The vote was 86 to 11…..
The House Defense Bill, with amendements to make the chambers Republican Rightwingnuts happy, is NOT going to survive …..
House Speaker McCarthy will probabkly HAVE to get Democrats to help him get something the House could get the Senate and President Biden to agree with….
Leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who drafted the legislation, promptly issued a joint statement hailing what they called a “forward-looking” plan and indicating they were “hopeful” that forthcoming talks with the House would yield a final bill “that puts our national defense on a path toward improving our deterrent capabilities.”
In the weeks to come, the Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-controlled House must reconcile their sharpest differences — deciding, for example, whether the final bill will include hard-right provisions to roll back Pentagon policies on abortion access and gender-affirming care — or risk failing to pass a National Defense Authorization Act for the first time in more than six decades.
Democrats in both chambers have said the GOP measures are non-starters. It’s unclear whether President Biden would veto any bill that attempts to roll back the Pentagon’s abortion policy.
The looming showdown on Capitol Hill will mark an extraordinary test for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who pushed through the House bill despite complaints — from moderate Republicans as well as Democrats — that he allowed what began as a bipartisan process to be hijacked by the party’s most rebellious and aggrieved members. The bill passed there 219-210, carried over the finish line by a razor-thin Republican majority after an acrimonious battle led to only four House Democrats voting for it, all from competitive swing districts and facing outsize political pressure to do right by the troops…..
…
Once talks between the House and the Senate begin, “We’ll have the upper hand,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) predicted during an interview with The Washington Post’s editorial board earlier this week. “… Because, what: You’re not going to do a defense bill over transgender and abortion, House guys? I mean, come on. This is about defending the nation … I don’t think the R’s are going to walk away from the table if they can’t get resolution on two culture-war issues to their satisfaction.”…..
Note….
I Remember when Republicans where STRONG FOR the coun tries Defense…..
Hmmmm?
The 11 Senators voting Nay and the 3 who didn’t vote on the bill:
Nay NJ D Booker, Cory *
Nay MA D Markey, Ed
Nay OR D Merkley, Jeff
Nay MA D Warren, Elizabeth *
Nay VT D Welch, Peter
Nay OR D Wyden, Ron
Nay VT I Sanders, Bernie *
Nay IN R Braun, Mike
Nay UT R Lee, Mike
Nay KY R Paul, Rand
Nay OH R Vance, J.D. (James)
Not Voting
No Vote PA D Casey, Bob
No Vote IL D Durbin, Richard
No Vote SC R Scott, Tim
From:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/118-2023/s212