House passes Pentagon funding and limits on stock trades in a last dash before recess

House passes Pentagon funding and limits on stock trades in a last dash before recess

House Republicans passed $1.1 trillion in funding for the military on Wednesday, in a final flurry of activity before leaving Washington for a more than month-long recess.

The funding, an annual military policy bill called the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, passed by a vote of 216 to 212, with six Democrats joining Republicans to support the bill. It now heads to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain path forward.

The bill — typically advanced with broad bipartisan majorities — has become a largely party-line effort this year. Republicans call the bill "a generational investment in America's national defense" that "builds the fighting force of the future by prioritizing innovation, lethality, and readiness."

Democrats, even reliable military advocates, disagree.

"The problem with this year's defense authorization bill is that it comes with the inclusion of $1.15 trillion in discretionary spending," Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on the House Armed Service Committee, said in a statement. "I cannot and do not support meeting these needs by making massive cuts to critically important domestic programs and slashing taxes."

Separately on Wednesday, House Republicans advanced a $95 billion budget blueprint. The framework, which still needs to pass the Senate, outlines more than $70 billion for the Iran war, $12 billion in assistance for farmers and money to implement provisions of the SAVE America Act, President Trump's signature election overhaul bill.

The vote was 216 to 214. GOP fiscal hardliners were frustrated that none of the spending called for by the bill would be paid for by spending reductions elsewhere.

Ultimately, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., was able to convince enough members to set aside their concerns in order to advance the framework legislation. They used a parliamentary procedure known as reconciliation, which means the package is not subject to the Senate's typical 60-vote margin and could, in theory, be passed on a party line vote.

By a vote of 232 to 198, the House also advanced a bill that would ban lawmakers from acquiring new individual stocks while in office. They would still be able to retain stocks they already own, reinvest stock dividend payments and sell stocks with disclosure.

The measure, dubbed the Stop Insider Trading Act, has been roundly opposed by non-partisan good government advocacy groups.

All but 13 Democrats opposed the measures, citing what they describe as major loopholes and concerns about an unrelated voter ID provision that was attached to the package.