House Republicans added restrictions to a defense bill Thursday to cut funding for abortion- and gender transition-related services, endangering the bill’s usually bipartisan nature and complicating its path to passage.
The vote on the abortion-related services amendment, proposed by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), was 221 to 213, with one Democrat in support and two Republicans against.
In February, the Pentagon said it would provide travel allowances for troops to access “non-covered reproductive health care” in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s rollback of Roe v. Wade and several states moving quickly to severely restrict abortion.
“Our Service members and their families do not control where they are stationed, and due to the nature of military service, are frequently required to travel or move to meet operational requirements,” the Pentagon said at the time.
The stance has been a source of controversy since, with one senator, Alabama Republican Tommy Tuberville, holding up Senate-approved military nominations and promotions in response.
On Thursday, the House weighed in with its vote as part of a larger package of controversial amendment votes to a bill lawmakers approve annually that sets various policies ― from how many tanks the Army should have to what can be sold in on-base commissaries ― for by far the government’s most expensive department.
In another vote, the House voted 222 to 211 to prohibit the Defense Department from paying for gender transition services as covered treatment under its TRICARE health care program. All the votes in favor except one came from Republicans, and all but one against came from Democrats.
“We think it’s quite likely that there are a number of poison pill amendments from abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, and others like those that would make it hard for progressives to support the bill.”
– Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.)
The defense bill is considered must-pass legislation, which makes it an attractive target for so-called policy riders. But while the bill usually shows the fingerprints of which party wrote it, it also usually has broad bipartisan support. In this case, before changes were offered on the House floor, it was passed by the House Armed Services Committee on a 58-1 tally.
But the abortion and transition restrictions will likely cost it Democratic support when there’s a vote on the final product to be sent to the Senate, a vote scheduled for Friday.
“We think it’s quite likely that there are a number of poison pill amendments from abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, and others like those that would make it hard for progressives to support the bill,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) on Wednesday.
Even some Republicans were wary of the abortion amendment, which was pushed to be voted on by a group of hardline House Republicans earlier in the week who threatened to keep the entire bill from the floor unless their issues were voted on.
“What have we done for women who don’t want to have an abortion but want to give their baby up for adoption? What are we doing with the cost of childcare?” asked Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who said she worried it would further hurt Republicans’ standing with women.
Mace voted for the amendment, though, telling a FOX News reporter afterward that the amendment would not survive the Senate anyway.
Democrats, who believe their much better-than-expected performance in last year’s midterms was partly due to the abortion issue, may have little incentive to help Republicans get the bill to the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the Senate will take up its version of the bill on Tuesday.
While Democrats lost the votes on the abortion and gender transition amendments, they beat back efforts by some House Republicans to cut off military aid to Ukraine either entirely or in part, a victory for the White House seeking to convey unity with the country after the recent NATO summit.
The most sweeping effort to cut aid, an amendment sponsored by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). to stop all U.S.-supplied security help, was defeated on a 70-358 vote. All 70 votes favoring the amendment, amounting to almost one-third of the House GOP conference, came from Republicans.
A separate vote to strip out authorization for $300 million in assistance was defeated on an 89-341 vote, while an amendment to restrict Ukraine’s use of a lend-lease agreement with the U.S. for equipment was defeated on a 71-360 vote.