{"id":31020,"date":"2023-12-07T16:54:20","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T16:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/12\/07\/defense-bill-drops-disputed-abortion-provisions-in-final-compromise\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:53:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:53:46","slug":"defense-bill-drops-disputed-abortion-provisions-in-final-compromise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2023\/12\/07\/defense-bill-drops-disputed-abortion-provisions-in-final-compromise\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense bill drops disputed abortion provisions in final compromise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

House and Senate negotiators released their compromise draft of the annual defense authorization bill<\/a> late Wednesday night, stripping out a host of controversial social issues <\/a>in favor of advancing a 5.2% pay raise for troops <\/a>and re-upping a host of needed provisions for Defense Department operations next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation \u2014 which spans nearly 2,400 pages<\/a>, not including additional report language \u2014 sets nearly all of the military\u2019s new policy provisions and spending priorities for the year. It is viewed as a must-pass bill by most lawmakers and has successfully advanced through Congress for more than six decades, even among partisan strife in the House and Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the separate House and Senate drafts of this year\u2019s authorization bill were packed with an array of controversial issues, endangering bipartisan support for the final compromise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Republicans had included provisions eliminating the Defense Department\u2019s abortion access policy for troops<\/a>, banning certain military care for transgender service members<\/a>, eliminating the post of chief diversity officer <\/a>for the department and prohibiting all future mask mandates for pandemic prevention efforts<\/a> throughout the ranks.<\/p>\n\n\n\t