House Passes Defense Bill, Clearing It for Biden

The House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed an $886 billion defense bill, clearing the measure for President Biden after pushing past a revolt from the far right over the exclusion of restrictions they had sought to abortion access, transgender care, and racial diversity and inclusion policies at the Pentagon.

The 310-to-118 vote reflected the bipartisan nature of the bill, which earned the support of a majority of Democrats and Republicans despite the vocal opposition of hard-liners, who staged a last-ditch rebellion on the House floor to try to block its passage. Mr. Biden is expected to sign the measure into law, maintaining Washington’s six-decade streak of approving military policy legislation on an annual basis.

This year’s defense bill authorizes a 5.2 percent pay increase for service members and civilian employees of the Pentagon. It also invests in a variety of measures to improve competition with Russia and China, including an expansion of regional partnerships in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, development of hypersonic weapons and upgrades to the nuclear arsenal.

The bill sets up a submarine deal at the heart of a new security partnership with Britain and Australia known as AUKUS, and directs hundreds of millions of dollars toward sending weapons to Ukraine and Israel. It does not settle the greater question of whether Congress will approve tens of billions of dollars in emergency funds for the two countries’ war efforts as part of a $110.5 billion spending bill that has stalled in Congress, amid a dispute between Republicans and Democrats about attaching measures to crack down on migration across the U.S. border with Mexico.

It would also extend into 2025 a program that allows the intelligence community to conduct warrantless surveillance of foreign individuals outside the United States. The program has come under fire because of how the F.B.I. has handled the private messages of Americans.

“It takes compromise to move legislation in a divided government, and this bill is a good compromise,” Representative Mike Rogers, Republican of Alabama and the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said on the floor. “It’s laser-focused on deterring our adversaries, especially China.”