Senate passes $901 billion defense bill that pushes Hegseth for boat strike video

By STEPHEN GROVES WASHINGTON AP The Senate gave final passage to an annual military strategy bill Wednesday that will authorize billion in defense programs while pressuring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide lawmakers with video of strikes on alleged drug boats in international water near Venezuela Related Articles Jack Smith tells lawmakers his organization developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt against Trump Republicans defy Speaker Johnson to force House vote on extending ACA subsidies Trump orders blockade of sanctioned oil tankers into Venezuela ramping up pressure on Maduro The US labels another Latin American cartel a terrorist group as the anti-drug war escalates Trump expands passage ban and restrictions to include an additional countries The annual National Defense Authorization Act which raises troop pay by gained bipartisan backing as it moved through Congress and the White House has indicated that it is in line with President Donald Trump s national assurance priorities However the bill which ran over pages revealed certain points of friction between Congress and the Pentagon as the Trump administration reorients its focus away from safety in Europe and towards Central and South America The bill pushes back on up-to-date moves by the Pentagon It demands more information on boat strikes in the Caribbean requires that the U S keep its troop levels in Europe at current levels and sends certain military aid to Ukraine But overall the bill represents a compromise between the parties It implements a large number of of Trump s executive orders and proposals on eliminating diversity and inclusion efforts in the military and grants crisis military powers at the U S perimeter with Mexico It also enhances congressional oversight of the Department of Defense repeals several years-old war authorizations and seeks to overhaul how the Pentagon purchases weapons as the U S tries to outpace China in evolving the next generation of military hardware We re about to pass and the president will enthusiastically sign the the greater part sweeping upgrades to DOD s business practices in years commented Sen Roger Wicker the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee Still the sprawling bill faced objections from both Democratic and Republican leadership on the Senate Commerce Committee That s because the regulation allows military aircraft to obtain a waiver to operate without broadcasting their precise location as an Army helicopter had done before a midair collision with an airliner in Washington D C in January that killed people The special carve-out was exactly what caused the January th crash that claimed lives Sen Ted Cruz the Republican chair of the Senate Commerce Committee announced at a news conference this week Cruz mentioned he was seeking a vote on bipartisan measure in the 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 strike videos Republicans and Democrats agreed to language in the defense bill that threatens to withhold a quarter of Hegseth s voyage budget until he provides unedited video of the strikes with the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services as well as the orders authorizing them Hegseth was on Capitol Hill Tuesday ahead of the bill s passage to brief lawmakers on the U S military campaign in international water near Venezuela The briefing elicited contrasting responses from multiple lawmakers with Republicans largely backing the campaign and Democrats expressing concern about it and saying they had not received enough information The committees are probing a Sept strike the first of the campaign that killed two people who had survived an initial attack on their boat The Navy admiral who ordered the double-tap strike Adm Frank Mitch Bradley also appeared before the committees shortly before the vote Wednesday in a classified briefing that also included video of the strike in question Congressional oversight Lawmakers have been caught by surprise by the Trump administration several times in the last year including by a move to pause intelligence sharing with Ukraine and a decision to reduce U S troop presence in NATO countries in eastern Europe The defense measure requires that Congress be kept in the loop on decisions like that going forward as well as when top military brass are removed The Pentagon is also required under the law to keep at least troops and major equipment stationed in Europe unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U S interests Around to U S troops are usually present on European soil A similar requirement also keeps the number of U S troops stationed in South Korea at Lawmakers are also pushing back on specific Pentagon decisions by authorizing million for each of the next two years to manufacture weapons to be sent to Ukraine Cuts to diversity and state initiatives Trump and Hegseth have made it a priority to purge the military of material and programs that address diversity anti-racism or gender issues and the defense bill would codify multiple of those changes It will repeal diversity equity and inclusion offices and trainings including the position of chief diversity officer Those cuts would save the Pentagon about million according to the Republican-controlled House Armed Services Committee The U S military has long unveiled that circumstances change is a threat to how it provides national prevention because weather-related disasters can destroy military bases and equipment But the bill makes billion in cuts by eliminating climate-change related programs at the Pentagon Repeal of war authorizations and Syria sanctions Congress is writing a closing chapter to the war in Iraq by repealing the authorization for the invasion Now that Iraq is a strategic partner of the U S lawmakers in endorsement of the provision say the repeal is crucial to prevent future abuses The bill also repeals the authorization that sanctioned the U S -led Gulf War The rare bipartisan moves to repeal the legal justifications for the conflicts signaled a anticipated appetite among lawmakers to reclaim a few of Congress s war powers Congress will also permanently lift U S sanctions on Syria as part of the decree following up on the Trump administration s decision to temporarily lift several penalties The nation is rebuilding after its former leader Bashar Assad was deposed and supporters of the new authorities say that permanently lifting the sanctions will spur the country s economic reconstruction and encourage the establishment of democracy