Debate over a must-pass defense bill dominated Congress this week as lawmakers waged fights over social issues, including a Pentagon policy to permit time off and travel expenses for out-of-state abortions.
For months, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has single-handedly blocked about 260 military nominations and promotions in protest of the abortion policy. The Department of Defense announced the action in 2022 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, setting off a wave of abortion bans and restrictions in states with a significant military presence, such as Texas.
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House Republicans approved an amendment Thursday to the National Defense Authorization Act to cancel the Pentagon’s abortion policy, a move that Democrats said would hurt female troops and hamper military recruitment efforts at a time of enlistment shortfalls. In largely party-line votes, the House also passed amendments to gut diversity, equity, and inclusion military programs and to ban the Pentagon from paying for hormone treatments or gender transition surgeries for transgender troops.
These social issue amendments, among hundreds considered, meant the loss of broad bipartisan support for the underlying bill, which authorizes $886 billion in national defense spending and raises the military base pay by 5.2%. The amended NDAA narrowly passed the GOP-led House Friday in a 219-210 vote, sending the bill to the Democratic-led Senate, where Tuberville intends to keep up the fight.
"The Biden admin injected politics in the military and imposed an unlawful abortion policy on American taxpayers," Tuberville tweeted Friday. "I am trying to get politics out of the military."
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Also this week, House Republicans held several high-profile hearings featuring climate envoy John Kerry, who balked at questions about his private jet use, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, who denied bureau weaponization against conservatives.
Here's a look at scenes from Washington during the week of July 10, 2023, captured by Washington Examiner photographer Graeme Jennings.
Wray grilled by the House Judiciary Committee
Tuberville defends his blockade on military promotions over the Pentagon's abortion policy
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) form an alliance over psychedelics
Senate puts PGA-LIV golf deal under the microscope
Senate Republicans blast Bidenomics
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) brings his son to work