US House passes bill authorizing $900bn for military programs

The US House voted 312-112 to pass a sweeping defense policy bill on Wednesday that authorizes $900bn in military programs, including a pay raise for troops and an overhaul of how the Department of Defense purchases weapons.The 3,000-page bill also includes a demand for more information about nearly two dozen lethal boat strikes in the Caribbean targeting suspected drug smugglers. A stipulation calls for the withholding of part of the travel budget of Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, unless the Pentagon releases to Congress the full, unedited video of a widely scrutinized strike in September which killed survivors of an earlier strike.The bill also authorizes $400m for each of the next two years for weapons support to Ukraine.The White House has signaled support for the legislation, although Donald Trump dodged questions about unreleased boat strike footage on Wednesday and has recently compared Ukraine’s leader with a salesman who has scammed the United States into spending billions of dollars to defend his country against the Russian invasion.The annual National Defense Authorization Act typically gains bipartisan backing, and the White House has said the must-pass legislationis in line with Trump’s national security agenda.Overall, the bill calls for a 3.8% pay raise for many military members as well as housing and facility improvements on military bases. It also strikes a compromise between the political parties – cutting climate and diversity efforts in line with Trump’s agenda, while also boosting congressional oversight of the Pentagon and repealing several old war authorizations.The legislation includes a provision that would cut Hegseth’s travel budget by a quarter until the Pentagon provides Congress with unedited video of the strikes against alleged drug boats near Venezuela. Lawmakers are asserting their oversight role after a September strike where the US military fired on two survivors who were holding on to a boat that had partially been destroyed.The bill also demands that Hegseth allow Congress to review the orders for the strikes.Trump’s ongoing support for Ukraine and other allies in Europe has been under doubt over the last year, but lawmakers included several positions meant to keep up US support for countering Russian aggression in the region.The defense bill requires the Pentagon to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment stationed in Europe unless Nato allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in US interests. Around 80,000 to 100,000 US troops are usually present on European soil. It also authorizes $400m for each of the next two years to manufacture weapons to be sent to Ukraine.Additionally, there is a provision to keep US troops stationed in South Korea, setting the minimum requirement at 28,500.Lawmakers overseeing the military said the bill would change how the Pentagon buys weapons, with an emphasis on speed after years of delay by the defense industry.The legislation next heads to the Senate, where leaders are working to pass the bill before lawmakers depart Washington for a holiday break.Several senators on both sides of the aisle have criticized the bill for not doing enough to restrict military flights over Washington. They had pushed for reforms after a midair collision this year between an army helicopter and a jetliner killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft near Washington’s Ronald Reagan national airport. The National Transportation Safety Board and families of the victims have also voiced opposition to that section of the bill, raising concerns that it would make the airspace more dangerous.The bill makes $1.6bn in cuts to climate crisis-related spending, the House armed services committee said. US military assessments have long found that climate crisis is a threat to national security, with bases being pummeled by hurricanes or routinely flooded.The bill will also cut $40m in funding for diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and trainings, the committee said.Congress is putting an official end to the war in Iraq by repealing the authorization for the 2003 invasion. Supporters in both the House and Senate say the repeal is crucial to prevent future abuses and to reinforce that Iraq is now a strategic partner of the US.The 2002 resolution has been rarely used in recent years. But the first Trump administration cited it as part of its legal justification for a 2020 US drone strike that killed Iranian Gen Qassem Suleimani.Congress would also permanently remove US sanctions imposed on Syria as part of the new law, after the Trump administration temporarily lifted many penalties.Lawmakers imposed economically crippling sanctions on the country in 2019 to punish former leader Bashar al-Assad for human rights abuses during the nearly 14-year civil war. After the new Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa led a successful insurgency to depose Assad, he is seeking to rebuild his nation’s economy.Advocates of a permanent repeal have said international companies are unlikely to invest in projects needed for the country’s reconstruction as long as there is a threat of sanctions returning.Democrats criticized the Republican House Speaker, Mike Johnson, for stripping a provision from the bill to expand coverage of in vitro fertilization for active duty personnel. An earlier version covered the medical procedure, known as IVF, which helps people facing infertility have children.