U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) reacts as Representatives cast their votes for Speaker of the House on the first day of the 118th Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 03, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House of Representatives today narrowly passed its version of the next defense policy bill with a near-party line vote of 219 to 210, setting up the lower legislative body to clash with the Democrat-controlled Senate on numerous social and cultural issues that conservatives added to the annual must-pass legislation.
The bill’s passage is ultimately a major win for Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who has struggled to wrangle his wide-ranging caucus since the first day of this Congress, when it took more than a dozen votes before the chamber successfully elected him as speaker. Today four Republicans voted against the legislation, while four Democrats supported it.
The four Democrats who voted in favor of the bill are Reps. Donald Davis, N.C.; Jared Golden, Maine; Marie Perez, Wash.; and Gabe Vasquez, N.M. The Republicans who voted against the bill are Reps. Andy Biggs, Ariz.; Ken Buck, Colo.; Elijah Crane, Ariz.; and Thomas Massie, Ky.
Although the base legislation received an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote out of the House Armed Services committee in June, 58-1, GOP lawmakers attempted to add numerous controversial riders to the legislation during Thursday and Friday’s debates on the House floor concerning issues such as abortion, funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs and transgendered people’s ability to serve in the military.
For example, one amendment that prohibits certain flags from being flown on military installations, proposed by Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., was adopted with a vote of 218-213. The amendment’s opponents argue it is designed specifically to prevent the military from displaying flags associated with the LGBTQ+ community.
That provision and others like it ultimately sunk most Democratic votes on a bill that traditionally sees strong bipartisan support each year and whose decades-long, year-over-year passage is usually flaunted by leading lawmakers, the chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.
“The bill we passed out of committee sent a clear, united message to our allies and partners, global competitors, and the American people that democracy still works, and Congress is still functional,” senior Democrats said in a joint statement Thursday night. “That bill no longer exists. What was once an example of compromise and functioning government has become an ode to bigotry and ignorance.”