A must-pass bill that would give junior enlisted troops a 19.5% pay raise is getting mired in the culture wars after House Republicans added amendments to roll back Pentagon policies on abortion and LGBTQ+ service members.
For the second year in a row, the House on Friday approved its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, mostly along party lines after conservative lawmakers used the bill to target their frequent foils. This year, that meant legislation originally crafted to focus on much-needed military quality-of-life improvements became a partisan messaging bill.
Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday evening also advanced its version of the NDAA, emerging from committee debate with a bipartisan product that would give junior enlisted troops a 5.5% pay bump and endorses busting open budget caps that Congress approved last year. While the Senate bill garnered bipartisan support, in a rare move, committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., opposed it because it did not adhere to the budget caps.
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In the House, the NDAA approved Friday still contains all the quality-of-life improvements that were approved by the House Armed Services Committee last month, including a 19.5% pay hike for E-1s through E-4s and a 4.5% raise for all other service members.
“There is no investment more important than the one we make in the men and women who serve in our…
