House Moves To Block Funding For Abortion Travel As Lawmakers Prepare To Vote On Military Spending

The House voted on Thursday evening to block the Pentagon from spending taxpayer dollars on funding travel for women in the military seeking abortions as lawmakers prepare to vote on the annual National Defense Authorization Act.

The amendment to block funding for abortion travel was just one of the amendments added to the NDAA, which House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said will likely go before the House for a final vote on Friday. 

The abortion amendment, which passed 221-213, was proposed by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) and was passed largely along partisan lines, with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) joining Republicans in voting for the measure. 

“My amendment to STOP Biden from using the DOD to pay for abortion travel PASSED. This policy is ILLEGAL, and soon, it will be GONE. This is a GREAT DAY for our country!!” Jackson tweeted. 

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) was reportedly “pissed off” that the House voted to block the military from funding abortion travel. 

Another amendment that passed was to block the Pentagon from funding transgender procedures on military members. 

“It is this administration that has turned the Department of Defense into a social-engineering experiment wrapped in a uniform,” Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) said. “The American people I’ve talked to back home don’t want a weak military; they don’t want a woke military; they don’t want rainbow propaganda on bases; they don’t want to pay for troops’ sex changes.”

An amendment from Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz that would have banned “federal funds for training on diversity, equity, and inclusion” failed after nine Republicans joined Democrats to vote it down. 

“Even if this amendment doesn’t pass I want my colleagues to know that this NDAA in the base bill takes a meat clever to DEI and the amendments we have adopted in the last round of voting certainly ensure that DEI … will not be a principle feature of our military service if this bill becomes law and that would be a great thing for our military,” Gaetz said. 

The Republicans who voted against Gaetz’s amendment included Reps. Don Bacon (NE), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR), Anthony D’Esposito (NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), John James (MI), Mike Lawler (NY), Marcus Molinaro (NY), Mike Turner (OH), and Del. Jenniffer González-Colón (PR).

A less expansive amendment banning some DEI programs was approved. 

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Amendments to limit spending for Ukraine were also defeated. One, from Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), would have revoked $300 million in spending, while another, from Gaetz, would have removed all spending for Ukraine. Greene’s amendment failed 89-341 while Gaetz’s failed 70-358.

If passed, the NDAA will provide around $886 billion for military spending, which is more than the NDAA provided last year and than the Biden administration’s recommendation, according to Just the News. 

The House version of the bill would likely face headwinds in the Democrat-controlled Senate to the abortion and transgender-related amendments.