Here’s what’s in major defense bill the Senate just passed during shutdown

The Senate approved its annual defense policy bill Thursday, ending weeks of gridlock over the massive $879 billion package and marking a rare move in approving major legislation during a government shutdown.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorizes $879 billion in funding for the U.S. military and directs national defense strategy, passed in a 77-20 vote late Thursday night. In a flurry of activity, the Senate passed seven amendments to the legislation last night, rejecting another nine in the process.

With the bill’s passage, the House and Senate armed services committees can now begin the process of reconciling the differences between each chamber’s respective versions. The House version passed in September with no support from Democrats.

One timely amendment to the bill introduced by Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen sought to require that the President or Secretary of Defense obtain the consent of a state’s governor before ordering that state’s National Guard members to perform federal missions within their own state or another U.S. jurisdiction.

“As the Republican governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt said today, and I quote, ‘As a Federalist believer, one governor against another governor, I don’t think that’s the right way to approach this.’” Van Hollen said on the Senate floor Thursday. Republican Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt retorted that the amendment would “weaken federal authority over the DC National Guard and hinder its ability to respond to a crisis.” The amendment failed 47-50.

A bipartisan amendment, introduced by Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Indiana Sen. Todd Young, was adopted to repeal both the 1991 and 2002 Iraq war authorizations, a long-sought rollback of executive war powers lingering since the first Gulf War and the 2003 invasion.

“The Iraq War started 22 years ago. The Gulf War 34 years ago. Today, Iraq is a partner, not an adversary, and it’s time for the law to reflect that,” Young said in the Senate chamber last night.

Also rejected was an amendment introduced by Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer to block President Trump’s purchase of a Qatari jet by barring the Department of Defense from spending any money on foreign-owned aircraft for use in presidential transport.

“It’s outrageous that President Trump wants to fly around the world like a king while Americans are getting hammered by tariffs, paying more for health care, groceries, rents, electricity,” Schumer said of the amendment. “Republicans like to talk about eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse — spending even a penny of taxpayer dollars on retrofitting this luxury is about as wasteful as it gets.”

The NDAA includes many other mandates, including the elimination of DEI mandates at the Pentagon, a restriction on sex change surgeries at military facilities, and a ban on race and sex based military academy admissions.

The bill outlines a number of foreign policy directives, notably an extension of increased Ukraine aid, expanded partnerships in the Middle East, and new industrial involvement with Taiwan. A ban on purchasing Chinese materials such as solar panels, semiconductors, printers, and vehicles will also be enforced through the legislation, as well as a prohibition on the operation of Chinese-made vehicles on Department of Defense property.

Republican Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, advocated for the NDAA holistically on the Senate floor Thursday, noting his focus on bipartisanship alongside the committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island.

“It is member-driven. It’s full of national security priorities from senators across this body on both sides of the aisle,” Wicker said. “It is designed to make important changes, to make our country stronger, to make our defenses better and more able to defend ourselves, and therefore to prevent armed conflict.”

Andi Shae Napier contributed to this report.

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