The U.S. House passed an amended version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (“NDAA”) 363-70, with 51 Democrats and 19 Republicans voting against. This version, which authorized expenditures of around $770 billion, would remove key portions which were passed in a prior version passed by the House in November, and faces a Senate vote this week.

Sex and gender in the NDAA FY2022

In regards to sex and gender relations, the current version of the bill does the following:

• encodes sexual assault into the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) as a crime for the first time
• requires each military branch to establish an office to handle such crimes,
• bans military commanders from making decisions about prosecutions in these and other “covered crimes”
• directs DoD to track allegations of retaliation by victims of sexual assault and harassment, including demographic information on both the purported perpetrator and victim

To gain support from Republicans, Senate Democrats removed key provisions from the House’s earlier version of the NDAA FY2022, including provisions mandating the removal of language in the Selective Service Act only requiring men to register for Selective Service by the age of 18. While the NDAA had passed with bipartisan support in the House, several key Republican senators such as Josh Hawley of Missouri objected to this language on sexist grounds, while Rand Paul of Kentucky objected to the maintenance of the Selective Service System in its entirety.

Far-right Republican members of both houses objected to the bill for purported financial support of gender-affirming surgeries for transgender servicemembers, even though the bill did not include such language and merely failed to include a transphobic amendment banning such support. The bill also fails to codify President Biden’s re-integration of transgender servicemembers.

The provisions in regards to sexual assault and harassment have the support of DoD leadership.

Other provisions

The bill also includes:

• the establishment of a “multi-year independent Afghanistan War Commission” to examine the beginning, procedure and U.S. withdrawal from the war over the last 20 years.
• authorizing a 2.7% pay increase for servicemembers
• authorizing DoD to provide a “basic needs allowance” for qualified low-income servicemembers who have experienced setbacks from the pandemic
• establishes an “office, organizational structure, and provides authorities to address unidentified aerial phenomena,” aka UFOs
• requires the President to develop a “Grand Strategy with Respect to China,” including assessments of Chinese activities in military, security, and foreign and economic relations in Central and South America
• bans the U.S. military from buying equipment made by forced labor camps in Xinjiang Province (a provision added at the behest of Republican senator Marco Rubio)
• reinforces U.S. policy against Chinese attempts to find a fait accompli against Taiwan

However, Senate Democrats removed a repeal of the 2002 Authorization to Use Military Force in Afghanistan from the most recent version. They also removed a provision legalizing marijuana banking, which was pushed by NJ Rep. Ed Perlmutter and passed the House.

Several House progressives voted against the bill due to the largesse of the funding to the military compared to the repeated cuts to the Build Back Better Act which has yet to pass the Senate.