The House passed an $886 billion military spending bill on Friday, with four Democrats joining Republicans. The bill contains several Republican amendments targeting abortion access, gender-affirming care, and climate policies. Progressives criticized the bill for allocating the largest military budget ever, failing to cut wasteful spending, and including amendments that attack women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and climate action. They urged the Senate to remove the “hateful measures” when reconciling the two chambers’ bills. The bill’s fate remains unclear as the Senate must still pass its own version and reconcile differences with the House bill.
Since Washington seems like a nice place for me to live I decided to look into Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s explanation for her vote in favor of this deplorable National Defense Authorization Act. She writes, “The bill also included my amendment to improve the military’s ability to fix its own equipment.” Voting against human rights in order to get a right to repair seems like an absurd deal for anyone who actually supports human rights to make.
