The House passed a more than $1 trillion annual defense bill on Wednesday, moving the unusually contentious measure forward after it earlier stalled in both chambers.
The bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed by a 216-212 vote. The House mostly voted along party lines, with Democrats overwhelmingly voting against the measure, citing their objections to President Donald Trump’s war in Iran.
“As we support anything in the defense area, we are de facto supporting this war with no end in sight,” Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said on Wednesday.
The legislation will now need to win approval in the Senate, where it could face a difficult path. Last week, Democrats in the upper chamber blocked the Senate version of the measure for the same reason the majority of their colleagues in the House voted against the bill on Wednesday..
And the House rule that advanced the bill to consideration on the floor of the lower chamber also included language to attach it to a contentious piece of voting legislation before it is sent to the Senate. That measure, the SAVE America Act, would impose stricter ID requirements for voters nationwide, among other provisions. Trump has aggressively pushed for the passage of the SAVE America Act ahead of the pivotal fall midterms, stating that he will not sign any other legislation until it is sent to his desk. House Republicans passed the measure in February, but it has stalled in the Senate, where Republican leaders have said they do not have the votes to pass it.
The NDAA itself would allocate more than $1 trillion to the Department of Defense (DoD), as well as roughly $40 billion to the Department of Energy to oversee the U.S.’s nuclear arsenal and more than $10 billion for other matters related to the military. The package also contains a provision that stipulates that service members will receive a pay raise.
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