Washington — Republican Representative Michael McCaul is confident that the final version of the annual defense policy bill will receive bipartisan support, despite the controversial amendment on abortion that caused the bill to lose Democratic support during its approval in the House last week.
“Traditionally, the more partisan amendments are removed,” McCaul stated during an interview on “Face the Nation” on Sunday. He referred to the House-Senate conference committee, which will negotiate a compromise bill. “At the end of the day, this always becomes a bipartisan bill.”
The National Defense Authorization Act, responsible for funding and establishing policies for the Defense Department, has consistently received wide bipartisan support since 1961. However, the bill was passed by the House on Friday with a near-party-line vote, with four Republicans voting against it and four Democrats in favor.
McCaul believes that even if other contentious amendments are removed from the final bill, the amendment prohibiting the Pentagon from covering travel expenses for service members seeking abortions out of state will remain intact.
“It will be a bipartisan bill,” he emphasized. “I believe there is nothing more crucial than our national defense and our military.”
Other conservative policy amendments included the denial of healthcare coverage for sex reassignment surgeries and hormone treatments for transgender service members, as well as the elimination of the Pentagon’s offices of diversity, equity, and inclusion, along with their personnel.
These provisions are unlikely to pass in the Democratic-controlled Senate, which is expected to begin debating the package this week.
The House rejected proposals concerning U.S. assistance to Ukraine by wide margins. These proposals included one from Republican Representative Marjorie Tayler Greene to cease the provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine and another from Republican Representative Matt Gaetz to prohibit security assistance to the country during its conflict with Russia.
“Having these amendments while Ukraine is caught in the crossfire, trying to repel Russian aggression, is very dangerous,” McCaul stated. “Their failure is good news.”
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