The House voted Thursday to clear the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act and send it to President Joe Biden for his signature.
The conference report was considered under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority. The bipartisan package easily cleared that threshold on a 310-118 vote.
In the latest sign of the shifting partisan politics of national defense, more Democrats — 163 — voted for the bill than the 147 Republicans who backed it. And the 73 GOP opponents eclipsed the 45 Democratic “no” votes.
The measure would authorize $886.3 billion in spending on U.S. national security programs, though the funds have yet to be appropriated. Thursday’s vote marked the 63rd consecutive fiscal year that the Congress has cleared the NDAA. The final vote came after a feisty floor debate that mainly centered on the bill’s temporary extension of a law allowing surveillance of foreigners’ communications. “Enacting an NDAA has never been more vital than today,” said Rep. Mike D. Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “America and our allies face unprecedented and rapidly evolving threats– from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and terrorist organizations throughout the world.”
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on Armed Services, told his colleagues: “You cannot oppose this bill and claim that you support the national security of this country.
Surveillance spat
Even with the overwhelming House support for the conference report, a coterie of ultraconservative members, largely composed of House Freedom Caucus members, voted against it. The bill had to be considered under suspension of the rules because House leaders were concerned they would not have majority backing for a rule to govern debate, given the opposition of those conservatives and of Democrats, who normally vote against GOP rules.
The primary concern of Republican critics was the conference report’s inclusion of a four-month extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which authorizes collection of foreigners’ communications data and sometimes sweeps up Americans’ conversations in the process. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said the Section 702 program makes the United States “more like China.” In response, Smith said the program needs to be overhauled but should not be terminated in the meantime before a new version can be enacted.