US House passes mammoth $895B defense spending bill, headed to Senate

​​​​​​​By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The House of Representatives passed a massive $895.2 billion defense spending package, sending it to the US Senate for consideration.

The bill cleared the House in a 281-140 vote Wednesday. The vast majority of Republicans, 200 of 220, voted in support, joined by 81 Democrats.

Much of the Democratic caucus voted in opposition of the bill's prohibition on the military's health care system providing treatments to transgender children of US service members, delivering a pivotal break from the bipartisan support the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) typically enjoys.

The 2025 fiscal year NDAA sets spending about 1% above 2024 levels, or about $9 billion more even as the Pentagon failed its seventh consecutive congressionally-mandated audit. The Defense Department has seen just incremental improvements in audits, which have been carried out since 2018.

The spending bill includes a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members, and a 4.5% pay increase for all other troops. It also includes billions of dollars in funding to help the US counter China, including $15.6 billion to fund the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, a military effort to strengthen deterrence against Beijing in the region.

The Senate is expected to take up the bill as early as Thursday or early next week.