The House
of Representatives passed a sweeping
defense authorization
bill filled with some controversial
amendments, amendments
that would dismantle
the Department of Defense policy
on abortion,
which reimburses
travel expenses
for members of the military
or their spouses getting an abortion.
Amendments
that would eliminate the Department
of Defense's
Office of Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion.
Amendments that would ban
the use of federal funds
for anything having to do
with critical race theory,
and also removing funding for transgender
health procedures.
CNN's Manu
Raju is getting bipartisan reaction
for us now from Capitol Hill,
showcasing the power of the far right
and the political calculations
of Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
House today approved an $886 billion
defense bill,
but not before bowing to the demands
of conservative hardliners
in turning a typically bipartisan affair
into a bitter partizan feud.
This is an insult to all
who serve the bill,
which would set
national security priorities
and authorize pay raises for troops,
was amended on the House floor
to include a host of cultural issues.
That's because hardliners
threaten to block the bill,
forcing the speaker
to allow votes on hot button amendments,
including to eliminate the Pentagon's
postwar policy,
providing reimbursement
for military personnel
traveling to get an abortion
and to nix diversity programs
at the Pentagon
and health care for transgender veterans.
Conservatives said
the bill goes after the woke military.
What traditionally
Tennesseans think about
our military is
is a little different than what
some of these bureaucrats and 33
star generals think about it.
Just four Democrats voted for it
and four Republicans
voted against the bill
that passed on the narrowest of margins.
The speaker attacking Democrats.
So what they're doing is
they're turning their backs
on the military. That's wrong.
Even some Republicans who backed the bill
expressed frustration.
If we want to show America
that we can come together
and that we care about women,
we've got to stop
being assholes to women.
I think it's a missed opportunity
but par for the course
given the national politics.
Democrats expect
the Senate will strip out
the controversial provisions,
but that would mean
McCarthy would have
to compromise on a final deal,
something that risks angering
the far right House Freedom Caucus,
which has in the past
paralyzed
the House and could call for a vote
seeking McCarthy's ouster.
The Freedom Caucus is not known
for losing gracefully.
Members of the Bloc want McCarthy
to hold the line.
We're not going to just walk
in a cosmetic negotiation and surrender.
We are establishing our position
on what
the Defense Department
ought to look like.
Now, we ought to hold that line.
We're going to drive a hard bargain.
What if the speaker does compromise?
We're going to hopefully preempt that.
As Democrats revolted,
the speaker wooed his far right,
including winning the vote
of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene
by promising
to make her a key defense bill negotiator
with the Senate.
So if you voted no,
you wouldn't have been
on the conference committee
Of course not,
because that
that just wouldn't make sense.
Now, the speaker defended his decision
to name Marjorie
Taylor Greene
as part of that conference committee,
even though she is
not a member of the House
Armed Services Committee.
And even though she told me
she plans to advocate
to try to pull back U.S.
support for Ukraine
in its war
against Russia, a position
that does not have
much support in Congress.
He said simply
he is naming people who are reflective
of the full Republican conference.
And also, Jake,
he claimed that he is not being driven
to the right by his members,
he said is simply allowing
the House to work its will.
Manu Raju on
Capitol Hill for us, thanks so much.
And joining me to discuss
is the Democratic Congressman
Adam Smith of Washington.
He is the ranking Democrat on the House
Armed Services Committee.
So, Congressman,
you voted against the National Defense
Authorization Act.
You say you did that
because of the admission
by Republicans
of this amendment that would undo this
Defense Department policy
to pay for the travel expenses
for a member of the military
or a spouse
to get an abortion,
to go to a state where that's legal.
Is it
clear to your Republican colleagues,
do you think that by adding
that amendment and some others,
this almost ensures
that this particular legislation
will not become law?
Well, first of all,
I want to emphasize
that we had a very strong
bipartisan bill out of committee.
It passed 58 to one.
It was a really good bill.
We worked with all members
that that we supported.
But on the floor,
they added a lot of amendments.
Certainly the ban on the travel policy
the DOD has put in place
to help
people get access to reproductive
care was number one.
There were also several provisions
in there that effectively,
you know, were anti-trans.
There were amendments
gutting the DEA provisions.
There was a very hard right
turn on the floor as to whether or not
the Republicans understand
that this is not going to pass
going forward in the Senate or elsewhere.
I think some do,
but it's going to be a fight.
I mean, the Senate's
not going to do this.
And we're going to
have to have a conference bill.
But I
you know,
the folks who supported those amendments
in the Freedom Caucus,
we'll see how they react
when the bill comes back
with those things out of it.
So what is your response
to the Republican argument
that if the Biden administration
and the Pentagon
want this to be the policy,
this travel policy
regarding going to states
where abortions, legal
if they want it, they should introduce it
as legislation?
Yeah, well, not everything
requires legislation.
We've had broad discussions
about the policies that are out there.
We the DOD has long had a policy
that if you cannot get the health care
you need where you're at,
they do pay for people to travel,
to get health care elsewhere.
I mean,
if you have a
I don't know, a specific heart condition
and you want to go to
the Cleveland Clinic
or you go to the Mayo Center,
if you've got a cancer problem
in Minnesota,
we already have in place
a policy
that allows DOD to pay for travel,
for health care.
They merely added to it
reproductive care
because of what happened
with the DOD decision in the states
banning that care in so many places.
So I think this is
well within the Department
of Defense's purview
to implement this policy.
Normally, this legislation
passes Congress
with overwhelming bipartisan support,
like you saw when it was reported
out of the House
Armed Services Committee.
What's your message to Speaker
McCarthy today
after seeing how devices divisive
this ultimately was?
I think it's unfortunate.
I think it's a missed opportunity
to show bipartisan support.
But but, look,
I mean, that's the legislative process.
The first year that I was chair
of the committee in 2019,
we wound up passing the bill
without Republican support.
I think the Republicans were wrong
for not supporting it,
but they made that decision.
It does happen.
I'm less concerned about the process
than I am about the policy.
The bill that the Republicans passed
makes it more difficult
for women to serve.
Makes it more difficult
for the trans community, sir.
Makes it more difficult
for people of color
to serve the policy
that they were willing to vote for.
Undermines our national security.
And we should be focused
on how bad that policy is.
And that's why
I and most Democrats
voted against this bill.
So that's the big problem.
The process is the process.
They got the votes for it.
So good for them.
But they were putting in place
a policy
that would undermine
the national security of this country
by making it more difficult
to find the people
we need to serve this country.
Your reference to African-Americans
serving
as a reference to the provision
having to do with diversity,
equity and inclusion just for anyone
watching Congresswoman Marjorie
Taylor Greene tells CNN
that she ultimately voted for the bill
because Speaker
McCarthy offered her a seat
on the joint House and Senate Armed
Services Conference Committee.
This is conference's
committees are after the House passes
a bill,
the Senate passes a version,
and then the conference's committee
come together and suss it out and
and have one bill.
It goes back to the House and Senate.
It's odd
because Marjorie Taylor
Greene is not on the House
Armed Services Committee to begin with,
but she's going to be
put on this conference
committee for this.
What do you make of that?
Well, what I make of it
is the extreme MAGA.
Republicans run the Republican Party.
I mean, you
you're basically Kevin
McCarthy will do
whatever he has to do to appease
the most extreme,
obnoxious members of his party
at every turn,
because that that bill
that I mentioned
that we passed out of
the Armed Services Committee,
that would have passed the House floor
with probably 360, 370 votes,
we would have lost a few of the Freedom
Caucus members
and some of our folks on the left
who don't vote for the defense
bill typically.
We had a very strong bipartisan bill.
But Kevin McCarthy has made it clear what
whatever the far right wants,
he will give them
And no, we've never had anyone
serve on the conference committee
who's not a member of the committee.
But again,
he will
he will give away
what he has to give away to keep them
at least marginally happy, I suppose.
Congressman Adam Smith,
the ranking Democrat on the House
Armed Services Committee.
Thanks for your time, sir.
Thank you, Jake. Appreciate the chance.