Senate passes defense authorization bill, pushes Hegseth for boat strike video : NPR

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday to brief members of Congress on military strikes near Venezuela.

Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP

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Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP

WASHINGTON — The Senate passed an annual military policy bill Wednesday that will authorize $901 billion in defense programs while pressuring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide lawmakers with video of strikes on suspected drug boats in international waters near Venezuela.

The annual National Defense Authorization Act, which increases troop pay by 3.8 percent, won bipartisan support as it passed Congress, and the White House indicated it was consistent with President Trump’s national security priorities. However, the legislation, which runs to more than 3,000 pages, revealed some sticking points between Congress and the Pentagon as the Trump administration shifts its focus from security in Europe to Central and South America.

The bill goes against recent moves by the Pentagon. He demands more information about boat strikes in the Caribbean, demands that the United States maintain its troop levels in Europe at current levels and sends military aid to Ukraine.

But overall, the bill represents a cross-party compromise. It implements many of Trump’s executive orders and proposals aimed at eliminating diversity and inclusion efforts in the military and grants emergency military powers to the U.S. border with Mexico. It also increases congressional oversight of the Defense Department, repeals years-old war authorizations and seeks to overhaul how the Pentagon buys weapons as the United States tries to outpace China in developing the next generation of military technology.

“We are about to pass, and the President will enthusiastically sign, the most sweeping improvements to the Department of Defense’s business practices in 60 years,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Yet the sprawling bill faced objections from both Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee. Indeed, the legislation allows military aircraft to obtain a waiver to operate without broadcasting their precise location, as an Army helicopter did before a mid-air collision with a jetliner in Washington, D.C., in January that killed 67 people.

“This special exclusion is exactly what caused the January 29 crash that claimed 67 lives,” Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said at a news conference this week.

Cruz said he was seeking to pass bipartisan legislation next month that would require military aircraft to use a precise location-sharing tool and improve coordination between commercial and military aircraft in busy areas.

Boat collision videos

Republicans and Democrats agreed to language in the defense bill that threatens to withhold a quarter of Hegseth’s travel budget until he provides never-before-seen video of the strikes to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, along with orders authorizing them.

Hegseth was at the Capitol Tuesday before the bill’s passage to brief lawmakers on the U.S. military campaign in international waters near Venezuela. The briefing drew contrasting responses from many lawmakers, with Republicans largely supporting the campaign and Democrats expressing concerns about it and saying they had not received enough information.

The committees are investigating a September 2 strike – the first of the campaign – that killed two people who had survived an earlier attack on their boat. The Navy admiral who ordered the “double tap” strike, Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, also appeared before the committees shortly before Wednesday’s vote in a classified briefing that also included video of the strike in question.

Congressional Oversight

Lawmakers have been surprised by the Trump administration several times over the past year, including a decision to suspend intelligence sharing with Ukraine and a decision to reduce the presence of U.S. troops in NATO countries in Eastern Europe. The defense legislation requires that Congress be kept informed of such decisions in the future, as well as when the military’s top brass will be removed from duty.

The Pentagon is also required under legislation to maintain at least 76,000 troops and major equipment stationed in Europe unless NATO allies are consulted and it is determined that such a withdrawal is in the interests of the United States. Between 80,000 and 100,000 American soldiers are usually present on European soil. A similar requirement also keeps the number of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea at 28,500.

Lawmakers are also pushing back on some Pentagon decisions by authorizing $400 million for each of the next two years to build weapons to send to Ukraine.

Reductions in diversity and climate initiatives

Trump and Hegseth have made it a priority to purge the military of materials and programs dealing with diversity, anti-racism or gender issues, and the defense bill would codify many of those changes. It will eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion offices and training, including the chief diversity officer position. The cuts would save the Pentagon about $40 million, according to the Republican-controlled House Armed Services Committee.

The U.S. military has long noted that climate change poses a threat to how it provides national security, because weather-related disasters can destroy military bases and equipment. But the bill calls for $1.6 billion in cuts by eliminating climate change-related programs at the Pentagon.

Repeal of war authorizations and sanctions against Syria

Congress is writing a final chapter in the Iraq War by repealing the authorization for the 2003 invasion. Now that Iraq is a strategic partner of the United States, lawmakers in favor of the provision say its repeal is crucial to preventing future abuses. The bill also repeals the 1991 authorization that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War.

The rare bipartisan initiatives to repeal legal justifications for conflict have signaled a potential desire by lawmakers to reclaim some of Congress’ war powers.

Congress will also permanently lift U.S. sanctions on Syria as part of this legislation, following the Trump administration’s decision to temporarily lift many sanctions. The nation is rebuilding after the ouster of its former leader Bashar Assad, and supporters of the new government say permanently lifting sanctions will spur the country’s economic reconstruction and encourage the establishment of democracy.