Republican Lawmakers Shoehorned Anti-LGBTQ+ Provisions Into an Annual Defense Bill

House Democrats are pushing back on Republican plans to shove anti-LGBTQ+ measures into this year’s military appropriations bill, one of several factors that could lead to a government shutdown by the end of 2023 — or even the end of this month.

In July, Republican lawmakers shoehorned anti-trans provisions and attacks on abortion rights into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual appropriations bill outlining military spending for the coming fiscal year. Although the plan was heavily pushed by the extremist “Freedom Caucus” and passed through the House (where Republicans hold a majority) by a largely party-line vote, Democrats in both chambers have opposed Republicans’ version of the NDAA, creating a budget deadlock that could lead to a shutdown of the federal government.

On Thursday, 155 members of the House signed a letter to the Senate Committee on Armed Services asking the committee’s chairs and ranking members to cut out sections of the bill that “actively target LGBTQ+ service members and LGBTQ+ dependents.” The letter condemned the GOP’s proposed bans on gender-affirming care for military employees and their families, Pride flags, books that mention gender identity, and drag shows on military bases — which, the signatories noted, “have long been part of military history” as far back as World War I.

“These sections of the House-passed NDAA were constructed to score political points rather than support and invest in our most important operational advantage: our service members,” the letter reads, asserting that Republicans would be “weakening military readiness and retention rates.”

The Freedom Caucus has insisted that the anti-trans provisions are necessary to “end the Left’s cancerous woke policies” which are “undermining our military’s core warfighting mission.” Although conservatives have almost universally latched onto “anti-woke” political messaging over the last few years, singling out trans people in the process, current polling shows that fighting “wokeness” isn’t even a priority for GOP voters. In fact, recent polling reveals that most Americans want lawmakers to stop attacking trans people.

House Republicans have attempted to compromise on a resolution that would fund the government until October 31, but which is still likely too extreme in its spending cuts and immigration proposals to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate, NBC reported. Earlier this week, the bipartisan House “Problem Solvers Caucus” released a temporary framework that would include some compromises toward Republican immigration policies, but eschew any new LGBTQ+ or abortion-related measures. If approved, this would continue funding the government through January. Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed on Tuesday that a procedural vote related to the NDAA had been removed from the official calendar, leaving the entire process still up in the air. We sure do love having a functional government here in the World’s Freest Country!

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