Senate Approves $895B Defense Bill Despite Democrat Opposition To Youth

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Incoming U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) (R) speaks to reporters following the weekly Senate luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on December 17, 2024 in Washington, DC. Thune spoke on the passing of the National Defense Authorization Act and the upcoming government funding bill. Thune was joined by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) (L) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY). (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

OAN Staff James Meyers
1:52 PM – Wednesday, December 18, 2024

The Senate approved the Pentagon’s massive $895 billion annual budget on Wednesday, which also prohibited the use of federal funds to provide transgender surgeries for minors with gender dysphoria, angering pro-LGBTQ Democrats.

In an 85-to-14 vote, the Senate passed the 1,800-page National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which had cleared the House of Representatives last week and now just needs President Joe Biden’s signature.

At the start of every new fiscal year on October 1^st, Congress is tasked with passing the NDAA to authorize defense spending and specify expenditures. This year’s bill, which comes over two months late, amounts to a 1% uptick over last year’s budget.

The bill also features a 4.5% pay hike for service members across the board at the start of 2025.

While NDAAs historically garner bipartisan support, Republicans were able to successfully throw out the bill’s provision on child transgenderism, which Democrats uplifted.

GOP officials argue that since a child’s brain doesn’t stop developing throughout their teens and mid-20s, with many “phases” and confusion naturally experienced throughout their childhood, it’s ethically wrong to allow under-18 minors to permanently alter their bodies forever due to a mental disorder.

The new NDAA blocks the military’s health care service Tricare from footing the bill for “gender transition” coverage pertaining to service members’ children under the age of 18. 21 Senate Democrats were against the provision change.

Led by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), she claimed that the transgender policy could have an impact on an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 gender dysphoric children of service members.

According to the Modern Military Association of America, there are close to “10,000 transgender youth ages 6 to 22” with parents active in the military.

Besides the transgender provisions, the NDAA aimed to improve conditions for service members, including a 14.5% bump for junior troops in a bid to help recruitment efforts. An amendment was also added into the bill that would authorize the Department Of Defense (DoD) to safeguard the border from drones, which comes after the recent arrival of drones in the Northeast.

“Murderous drug cartels and foreign adversaries have taken advantage of the chaos of the last administration to fly drones unchecked into American airspace,” Ernst said in a statement.

“Border security is national security, and Americans deserve real measures to protect them against a growing threat.”

Additionally, the measure enables the use of the National Guard to help support efforts to control the crossing of illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. Hiring individuals based on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) will also be prohibited until the DoD is able to conclude its investigation of DEI programs.

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