President Biden on Monday threatened to veto a GOP-sponsored appropriations bill providing for military housing and medical care because it included restrictions on transgender procedures and abortion.
Created by the Republican House majority, the Department of Veterans Affairs bill came alongside another bill for the Department of Agriculture. A total of $155.7 billion was allocated for discretionary programs in the Military Construction-VA bill.
“The draft bills also include numerous new, partisan policy provisions with devastating consequences, including harming access to reproductive health care, threatening the health and safety of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Americans, endangering marriage equality, hindering critical climate change initiatives, and preventing the administration from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the White House said in a statement.
The provisions the White House objected to place prohibitions on using the funds for surgeries and hormone therapy for transgender-identifying individuals as well as to cover abortions, with some exceptions, such as if the pregnancy results from rape or incest or in cases where the mother’s life is endangered.
“None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for surgical procedures or hormone therapies for the purposes of gender affirming care,” the military construction bill reads.
“This would prevent VA from providing the full extent of quality care to veterans and legislates on decisions that should be left to the patient and their healthcare provider,” the administration said.
The measure would also bar the Biden administration from spending the funds to fly or display any flag other than the flag of the U.S., the flag of a State, Territory, or D.C., the flag of an Indian Tribal government, the flag of the Department, the flag of an Armed Force, or the POW/MIA flag over a Department of Veterans Affairs building or national cemetery. The LGBT Pride flag would presumably be banned from the facilities under these terms.
The Biden administration condemned the agriculture appropriations bill, claiming it included “deep cuts to climate change and clean energy programs” that were far greater than those negotiated by both parties earlier this year during the debt ceiling scramble.
In May, GOP leaders and the White House agreed to increase the debt limit to avoid a default with the condition that non-defense discretionary spending be reigned in to 2022 levels. The deal also slowed federal spending to one percent annual growth for six years.