The deal could put the bill back on track to pass the House this week as leaders originally planned, after some Republicans wondered whether the impasse would stall the legislation.
Still, the move is ultimately a gamble by McCarthy and his team. Republican leaders are placating conservatives — who have already threatened McCarthy’s speakership — by allowing votes on their amendments so they don’t block the bill from advancing to the full House on a procedural vote. But GOP leaders ultimately need the most hardline proposals to be voted down in the lower chamber to avoid Democrats jumping ship and killing the defense bill’s chances of passing.
Democrats are already telegraphing that they won’t support the $886 billion defense bill if Republicans load it up with hardline provisions. They ripped GOP leaders for catering to their right flank and eschewing the bipartisan support the legislation typically receives.
“This bill passed out of the Armed Services Committee 58-1,” said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee. “Looking at the amendments made in order, I’d be surprised if this barely passes the House.”
“It is outrageous that a tiny minority of MAGA extremists is dictating how we’re going to proceed,” McGovern said.
The House will tee up a vote as soon as Thursday evening on Rep. Ronny Jackson’s (R-Texas) amendment to restrict the Pentagon’s policies for reimbursing travel costs and allowing leave for troops to seek abortions, a measure that is cosponsored by 70 other Republicans.
Several amendments to gut Pentagon diversity programs were included in the package, including a proposal from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to block diversity, equity and inclusion training.
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) will get a vote on his proposal to end coverage of transition surgeries and hormone treatments for transgender troops.
The House will also tackle amendments from GOP opponents of arming Ukraine. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) proposals would slash $300 million in military assistance from the bill and prohibit President Joe Biden from sending cluster bombs to Ukraine. Another proposal from Gaetz would bar security assistance for Kyiv.
Conservatives will also get an opportunity to dive back into a fight over removing the names of Confederate leaders from Army bases and other military property less than a year after a congressionally mandated commission submitted its renaming recommendations.
Party leaders granted Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) a vote on his amendment, even though many of the installations have already adopted their new names.
But before debate can begin on any of those issues, Republicans will have to round up enough support on a procedural vote that allows debate to begin on the latest tranche of amendments.
The House raced through 289 uncontroversial amendments Wednesday, but the 80 new amendments will force lawmakers, especially those in tossup districts heading into the 2024 elections, to go on the record on some topics they would rather avoid.
Of the 80 amendments headed to the floor, 70 are Republican-sponsored versus four from Democrats and six that are bipartisan. Hundreds more were abandoned. Floor action was granted on less than a quarter of the more than 1,500 amendments filed by hundreds of lawmakers.
Democrats bemoaned several progressive priorities that were left on the cutting room floor, including a long-shot push by Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) to cut $100 billion from the Pentagon budget.
Another marquee amendment from Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) would have broadly barred the U.S. from transferring cluster munitions abroad, opposing Biden’s recent decision to send them to Ukraine. The proposal was also cosponsored by Gaetz. Republicans stiff-armed the amendment, instead granting Greene a vote on her proposal to limit giving cluster bombs specifically to Ukraine.
Advocates for reining in presidential war powers also came up short, as no votes were granted to repeal decades-old war authorizations. But House Rules Chair Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said early Thursday that McCarthy has pledged to put legislation reining in war authorization on the floor after the August recess.
“We do have an assurance from the speaker this will be dealt with in September,” Cole said. “We’d like to move it through regular order and we’d like to have a pretty robust debate on it.”
