House Approves Sweeping $901 Billion Defense Bill, Setting Up Crucial Senate Vote

The House moved forward on a major national security front Wednesday, approving the latest National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and sending the $901 billion Pentagon package to the Senate. The chamber passed the bill 312–112, with 18 Republicans joining 94 Democrats in opposition to the annual War Department authorization.

The bill survived a razor-thin procedural hurdle earlier in the day. A rule vote that initially appeared destined to fail flipped at the final moments when four Republicans — Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado — switched their votes from “no” to “yes,” according to Fox News.
All Democrats voted against the procedural measure.

House and Senate negotiators had already consolidated their separate drafts into one compromise text, positioning the package for a relatively straightforward passage through the Senate before it reaches President Donald Trump’s desk.

Conservatives Raise Red Flags Over Ukraine Funding, CBDC Omission

The most vocal conservative critics argued that the bill strayed from America-first fiscal restraint — particularly by locking in $400 million per year in Ukraine assistance for two consecutive years. They also objected to the removal of a Republican-backed safeguard blocking the Federal Reserve from creating a central bank digital currency.

The proposed CBDC ban had been championed as a key privacy shield, with its supporters warning that a federally controlled digital dollar could enable unprecedented financial surveillance, transactional censorship, or political targeting.

Other controversial provisions limit President Trump’s authority to reduce troop deployments in Europe and South Korea or temporarily halt weapons deliveries to Ukraine — constraints many conservatives view as relics of old-guard interventionism.

Pentagon Accountability Measures and DEI Rollbacks Included

The legislation does include several conservative victories, including a clause withholding one quarter of War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the Pentagon releases raw footage of U.S. strikes on suspected narco-trafficking vessels near Venezuela.

Speaker Mike Johnson emphasized that the NDAA also delivers a 4 percent pay increase for enlisted service members, dismantles DEI initiatives across the military, strengthens anti-antisemitism policies, trims $20 billion in outdated programs and bureaucratic waste, and implements new counter-China measures.

FBI Transparency, IVF Dispute, and AI Regulation

Another conservative-backed win: the bill contains a non-defense provision pushed by privacy advocates, including House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, requiring the FBI to alert Congress when it opens investigations into presidential or other federal candidates — a response to years of politicization concerns surrounding federal law enforcement.

Notably absent from the final version is expanded in vitro fertilization coverage for military families, an issue that sparked heated debate in recent days. Lawmakers also declined to insert language blocking states from regulating artificial intelligence.

Major Counter-China Framework Embedded in the Bill

A significant provision establishes a new outbound investment screening program. U.S. companies and investors must notify the Treasury Department before financing sensitive high-risk technologies in China or other foreign adversary jurisdictions. Treasury would then be empowered to block such deals outright or impose mandatory reporting obligations to Congress.

The NDAA also bars Pentagon contracts with Chinese genetic sequencing firms, biotechnology companies, and suppliers of advanced batteries, photovoltaic systems, critical minerals, and computer displays tied to “foreign entities of concern,” especially those linked to Beijing.

Additional diplomatic measures include requiring the State Department to station Regional China Officers across U.S. embassies globally to monitor China’s commercial and infrastructure influence, including its Belt and Road Initiative. The bill also mandates biennial comparisons of China’s diplomatic footprint to that of the United States.

Outdated Iraq War Authorizations Repealed

The package formally repeals two long-dormant Authorizations for Use of Military Force from 1992 and 2002 — both tied to earlier Iraq operations — while leaving intact the foundational 2001 AUMF that continues to guide counterterrorism missions worldwide.