House passes defense authorization bill

The House voted today to pass the fiscal year 2020 defense authorization bill, hours after President Trump signaled he would sign it.

The bill, which authorizes $738 billion for national defense and establishes a U.S. Space Force, now moves to the Senate, where a vote is expected Thursday. Congress still needs to finalize a spending bill that would appropriate actual funding, but lawmakers praised the bipartisan authorization as a positive step.

The 3,000-page bill passed by a 377-48 vote, despite opposition from some liberal Democrats who voted against it on the grounds that too many progressive priorities were jettisoned in a compromise with Republicans.

However, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) called the bill the "most progressive" defense authorization in history, highlighting provisions that would allow all federal employees up to 12 weeks of paid family leave and overturn the so-called "widow's tax" on military spouses.

"Because of this hard work, our bill will have real impacts on Americans leading real lives," Smith said in a statement issued this afternoon. "Throughout the negotiations I failed in one way: I was unable to turn President Trump, Leader McConnell, and Chairman Inhofe into Democrats and convince them to suddenly accept all of the provisions they despise. Nonetheless, we have accomplished more with this bill than anyone ever thought possible given the realities of a Trump White House and a Republican-controlled Senate, and we should be proud of that."

House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Mac Thornberry (R-TX) said the current bill is very different from the July 12 version that passed the House without one single Republican vote.

"This is a compromise," he said. "I can give a list of things in the bill that I wish were not in the bill. I also have a list of things I wish were in the bill that I tried to get into the bill."