Speaker Johnson Secures Conservative Policy Victories in FY25 Defense Bill

by Zachary Mettler | December 13, 2024 | Government Updates

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday. The bill secures many conservative policy wins, including abolishing DEI, CRT and prohibiting transgender medical interventions on minors.

The House approved the “Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025” (H.R. 5009) in a 281-140 bipartisan vote. Two hundred Republicans and 81 Democrats voted in favor of the bill, while 16 Republicans and 124 Democrats voted against it.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson issued a statement applauding the bill’s passage:

“Today’s passage of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes important wins for our troops and ensures our military has the necessary resources and support to defend our great nation. … Our men and women in uniform should know their first obligation is protecting our nation, not woke ideology.”

The speaker added,

This year’s NDAA refocuses our military on its core mission of defending America. The legislation supports law enforcement operations and the deployment of the National Guard to the southwest border, expedites innovation and reduces the acquisition timeline for new weaponry, supports our allies, and strengthens our nuclear posture and missile defense programs.

The speaker’s office also highlighted several of the bill’s conservative policy wins:

Provide junior enlisted servicemembers with a 14.5% pay raise.
Fully support the deployment of National Guard at the southwest border to intercept illegal aliens and drugs.
Expand U.S.-Israel military exercises and fully fund cooperative missile defense programs.
Prohibit contracts with advertising firms that blacklist conservative news sources, like NewsGuard Technologies Inc.
Abolish the DEI bureaucracy and climate change programs in the military.
Ban the teaching, training, or promotion of critical race theory.
Permanently ban transgender medical treatment for minors in Tricare.
Counter antisemitism by prohibiting sale of goods at DOD commissaries and exchanges from any entities that have or are engaged in a boycott of Israel.

The House bill also holds firm by not requiring women to register for the draft – a proposal that the U.S. Senate’s version of the NDAA included earlier this year.

The “drafting women” proposal has been included in several version of the NDAA in recent years. Thankfully, it has been dropped every time to gain support for the NDAA’s final passage out of both chambers of Congress.

Representative Chip Roy, R-Tx, was one of the 16 Republicans to vote “No” on the House’s NDAA this year. Rep. Roy issued a statement explaining his reasoning, lauding the bill for adhering to spending caps in law, banning CRT and prohibiting taxpayer funded sex-change procedures for minors under Tricare.

“I also commend Speaker Johnson and House GOP leadership for holding the line against the female draft language that the Senate tried to inject into the bill,” Rep. Roy said, adding,

However, I could not ultimately support the final product in its totality, as I did the House version of the legislation earlier this year. Unfortunately, it did not go far enough. The final NDAA failed to eliminate DEI positions, such as the Chief Diversity Officer, and did not end Pentagon-funded sex-change surgeries for servicemembers. There is more work to be done.

The House’s approval of the NDAA comes after weeks of negotiations with the Senate over the chambers’ respective versions of the bill. Final text for the FY25 NDAA was released last weekend, which paved the way for the House’s vote.

The U.S. Senate is expected to consider the NDAA early next week, after which the bill will be sent to President Joe Biden’s desk for approval. Congress tries to finalize the NDAA before the end of each calendar year.

The Daily Citizen will keep you apprised of important developments.

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Photo from Getty Images.