House GOP battles stretch out consideration of defense bill

House consideration of the annual defense authorization bill is likely to be kicked into next week as House Republicans battle over which controversial amendments will get votes on the floor.

The extended timeline is just the latest reflection of the challenges facing Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and GOP leaders as they race to iron out internal differences and unite as a party to pass their top policy priorities with a pencil-thin majority in the lower chamber.  

Up to now, the focus of the divisions has been on issues related to spending, as members of the hard-right Freedom Caucus have jousted with more moderate Republicans over the size and scope of the federal government. 

The current fight involves the same players but different concerns, focused on culture war issues like abortion and “wokeness,” which have split the ideological wings of the conference and extended the debate on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which GOP leaders had hoped to pass this week. 

Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), two hard-line conservatives who also sit on the House Rules Committee, each said Wednesday that they do not expect final passage of the defense bill this week.

“We’re not gonna get the NDAA wrapped up I don’t think by like Friday, right,” Roy said. “So the point is we got to work through this and figure out whether we can get agreement and everything, you know, in the rule and everything here in the next couple days.”

“I would put the odds, if I had to bet on this I’d say it’d be next week,” Norman — a self-proclaimed “betting man” — echoed regarding final passage of the defense bill.

Passage of the annual NDAA has historically been a routine, if tedious, process — one that invites plenty of debate and amendments, but also widespread bipartisan support in a Congress where the military is largely revered. 

But the arrival of new Pentagon policies under the Biden administration — which have touched on social issues like climate, LGBT rights and abortion — combined with the ongoing battle between McCarthy and his conservative critics have altered the dynamics of this year’s debate. 

“Abortion, transgender, DEI, climate change … All that stuff, social engineering stuff, needs to be addressed,” Roy said. “There are amendments to address it. The question is, when will they be voted on, how will they be voted on. And then, you know, thirdly is Ukraine. That’s a whole other issue.”

The fight has defense hawks worried.

“A small group of people isn’t just saying ‘we want to vote on things that we care about.’ They want to say, ‘If we don’t get what we want, we’ll tear the whole thing down,’” said Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee.

Pressed by a reporter on whether he was concerned about the bill passing, he responded, “Absolutely, I think it’s more likely than not right now that it won’t pass.”

The committee-passed version of the NDAA, which moved through the Armed Services Committee by a 58-to-1 vote in June, already bans drag shows and any training that promotes critical race theory.

But it does not reverse a Pentagon policy to reimburse service members for travel expenses if they get abortions, a major concern for some conservatives. Others want to go further to gut diversity and inclusion programs, and Ukraine is another massive target for the hard-liners.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), for instance, is pushing an amendment to eliminate $300 million in new Ukraine funding, which is provided in the committee-passed bill. She called Ukraine funding a “red line,” and warned that if her proposal does not receive a separate vote she might vote against the procedural rule to allow consideration of the bill. 

Conservatives used the tactical move of voting against rules to grind floor action to a halt last month. While they ultimately relented, they also hinted they could use the tactic again if McCarthy crossed them.

Greene has also introduced several other amendments that include blocking the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Also complicating the timeline has been the sheer volume of proposed amendments. Lawmakers in both parties have submitted more than 1,500 amendments to the bill in the House Rules Committee — a massive number for the panel’s members to sort through to weed out redundancies, verify relevance to issues of defense and more generally seek ways to expedite the process. 

The Rules Committee Tuesday made an unusual procedural move to allow floor consideration for nearly 300 noncontroversial amendments while Republicans hash out remaining issues on more touchy provisions. A bulk of those passed Wednesday by voice vote.

But the committee will have to meet again to craft another rule that decides which controversial amendments will get votes, and to allow the bill to move to final passage.

The trouble for House GOP leaders as they negotiate amendments is that they are likely to need Democratic support to pass the NDAA, given the party’s slim majority and history of many members voting against the NDAA in the past.

If approved, the hot-button conservative amendments could be poison pills for the bill.

“If some of those amendments pass, I think all Democrats will oppose it,” Smith said.

But House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) downplayed the difficulties of passing an NDAA with any of those amendments approved. 

“If [an amendment] passes with Republican votes, if it becomes part of the NDAA, we’re gonna pass it with 218. That is our goal,” Emmer said.

Smith is also not thrilled about the prospect of delays.

“The longer you delay the tougher it is to pass it,” Smith said.

But conservatives welcome the delay.

“The NDAA doesn’t have to pass this week. Why are we rushing through this?” said Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), chairman of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus. “I’d like to see it be right and righteous.”

McCarthy said Tuesday that he had not put a timeline on the NDAA’s passage.

“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. We want to finish right,” McCarthy said.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) similarly downplayed the prospect of extended NDAA consideration.

“If we can finish it all this week, we will. And if it takes more time, we’ll take it right,” Scalise said Wednesday during a press conference. “The most important thing is that we get the policy right.”