Division among House conservatives has hobbled the passage of a critical Pentagon policy bill.
Republican House leaders, coping with a tiny majority, are embroiled in negotiations with ultra-conservative members of the House Republican Conference who are trying to shut down progressive policies and other provisions in the annual defense legislation.
Proposed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act, penned by members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, seek to eliminate a series of liberal military policies such as funding for diversity training and a Pentagon policy to help service members obtain abortions, as well as funding to help Ukraine in the war with Russia.
The internal divide forced a House panel to postpone deciding which amendments to allow on the floor for votes, practically guaranteeing the measure’s final passage will be pushed into next week or later.
Lawmakers had offered up an eye-popping 1,500 amendments to the must-pass bill that the House Rules Committee must plow through. The committee passed the first batch of about 300 amendments Wednesday. Additional votes on amendments are expected Thursday.
Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a Republican on the committee, told reporters that he was unsure when the second tranche of amendments would be hammered out, adding that they were still hashing out the next steps.
“We’re sort of on standby,” Mr. Cole said.
He described the horse trading going on in the conference this way: “We have a lot of that is going on right now as people try to make a calculation and decide, in exchange for this, I don’t have to have these three other things that I intended to have.”
Meanwhile, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is working behind the scenes to find a middle ground with the hardline conservatives.
The more hot-button amendments that did not make it through the first round include blocking the Pentagon from reimbursing service members that travel for abortions, slashing funding for transgender surgery and halting Ukraine funding until the Biden administration develops an end game for U.S. involvement.
Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the Freedom Caucus who services on the Rules Committee, said that everything from abortion to Ukraine funding to progressive Pentagon policies all “involve dollars” and belong in the bill.
“There’s a discussion on what’s germane, what’s not,” the South Carolina Republican said.
It will take a balancing act between ultra-conservative asks and political realities, but Mr. Norman was confident consensus could be found among Freedom Caucus members. He said that some had already begun to soften their stance.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, another Freedom Caucus member on the committee, said the debate is about making the Defense Department “actually defend the country again … instead of being a social engineering experiment that’s screwing up our ability to recruit and undermining the morale and the culture at the Pentagon.”
House Democrats decried the slow-down of the NDAA, accusing the Freedom Caucus of “extorting” concessions from Mr. McCarthy.
Rep. James McGovern of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said Republicans were preoccupied with fighting Republicans.
“Kevin McCarthy may be the ringleader, but the clowns have taken over,” he said.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washigtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.