House Republicans approve massive annual defense bill

The House of Representatives on Friday passed this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, setting policy priorities for the Pentagon in 2025.

The Republican-led bill package passed by a 217-199 vote, largely along party lines.

The NDAA sets budgetary direction for many of the military’s most important programs. The $883.7 billion package, for instance, authorizes the Department of Defense, the nuclear weapons program, and administrative matters in the DOD. Although the bill outlines many top military spending needs, the NDAA itself isn’t an appropriations bill. Its many provisions inform later bills on defense, homeland security, and more.

The bill now heads to the Senate where its language will likely change before being sent back to the House for final congressional passage.

What’s the context? Because of its central nature to outlying the military’s priorities, the NDAA has proved one of the most reliable pieces of legislation in Congress. If passed by the Senate and signed into law later this year, this bill will mark the 64th consecutive year lawmakers have passed an NDAA.

The bill usually doesn’t get signed into law until towards the end of the year. Because of its reliability, the bill annually attracts all kinds of amendments and policy riders. The 2025 NDAA carried 394 amendments in the House of Representatives.

Among the bill’s many provisions, Republicans included language restricting DOD funding for abortions; blocking funding for DOD education on diversity, equity, and inclusion; and banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory at DOD schools.

How is the Democratic Party reacting? Democrats decried the additions as partisan attempts to tie party-line priorities to the nation’s defense needs.

House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Republicans of hijacking the defense package to force what he called extreme right-wing ideology on the public.

“Extreme MAGA Republicans are trying to once again march us towards a nationwide abortion ban, and restrict the reproductive freedom of women serving in the military,” Jeffries said at a press conference Friday morning.

President Trump visited Capitol Hill on Thursday to address congressional Republicans about abortion as the nation approaches the November election.

Dig deeper: Read my reporting on the ongoing appropriations struggle in Congress.