House passes bill authorizing $770 billion in Pentagon funding and setting

By Ellie Kaufman and Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — The National Defense Authorization Act, the annual must-pass legislation that sets the policy agenda and authorizes almost $770 billion in funding for the Department of Defense, passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday night.

The bill now moves to the Senate, where it will likely be voted on later this week, before it can be signed into law by President Joe Biden.

The bill passed with strong bipartisan support, with a final vote of 363-70, with 169 Democrats and 194 Republicans voting for the bill, while 51 Democrats and 19 Republicans voted against it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was the only member to not vote.

The final version of the bill, which leadership from both chambers have agreed to, contains changes to how sexual assault and harassment are prosecuted and handled within the military, a 2.7% pay increase for military service members and Defense Department civilian employees, and $300 million in military aid to the Ukrainian Security Assistance Initiative, adding $50 million more than what was proposed in the budget request, summaries of the bill’s text from the House and Senate Armed Services Committees stated.

The sweeping bill targets issues that have been top-of-mind for Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin since he took the helm of the department in January, from the handling of sexual assault and harassment within the military to changes to bias and discrimination training for all military branches.

On the foreign policy front, it also establishes a “multi-year independent Afghanistan War Commission” to examine the war in Afghanistan after the US military withdrawal in August, covering the entire 20 years of the war.

The bill includes a “statement of policy on Taiwan,” saying it is US policy to maintain the ability of the United States to resist a fait accompli against Taiwan, that would “jeopardize the security” of the Taiwanese people, the bill states.

While the bill is often seen as a bipartisan effort, with leadership in both parties and both chambers of Congress coming to an agreement on the text before the House vote Tuesday, not every member was pleased with the final result.

Democratic Rep. Anthony Brown of Maryland outlined why he would be voting against the legislation. He said he believes the bill doesn’t go far enough to address racial bias in the military justice system.

“At a time when Democrats control the House, the Senate, and the Executive Branch, it is an unconscionable failure to deliver a National Defense Authorization Act that does not meet the values of equity and justice for which we have long strived or a bill that does not meaningfully protect the foundations of our democracy,” Brown said in a statement.

Military culture

The final version of the bill removes the commander of a military command “from decisions related to the prosecution of covered crimes,” including “sexual assault,” an important shift that military leaders including Austin and Chairman of the…