President Biden signed a defense bill into law Monday that authorizes significant pay increases for young enlisted service members, aims to counter China’s growing power and increases overall military spending to $895 billion despite his objections to removing coverage of transgender medical treatment for children in the military. families.
Mr. Biden said his administration strongly opposed the provision because it targets a group based on gender identity and “interferes with the role of parents in determining the best care for their children.” He said it also undermines the all-volunteer military’s ability to recruit and retain talent.
“No military member should have to choose between their family’s access to health care and their call to serve our nation,” said the the president said in a statement.
The Senate sent the bill to Mr. Biden after passing it last week by a vote of 85 to 14. In the House, a majority of Democrats voted against the bill after House Speaker Mike Johnson, insisted on adding a provision barring medical care for transgender children. The bill easily passed by a vote of 281 to 140.
Mr. Biden also opposed other language in the bill prohibiting the use of money intended to transfer detainees to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, certain foreign countries and the United States. He urged Congress to lift these restrictions.
The annual defense authorization bill, which guides Pentagon policy, calls for a 14.5 percent pay increase for junior military personnel and 4.5 percent for others.
The legislation also shifts resources toward a more confrontational approach toward China, including creating a fund that could be used to send military resources to Taiwan, similar to how the United States supported Ukraine . It is also investing in new military technologies, including artificial intelligence, and boosting U.S. munitions production.
The United States has also decided in recent years to ban the military from purchasing Chinese products, and the defense bill extended this measure by banning Chinese products, from garlic present in police stations military to drone technology.
The legislation still needs to be backed by a spending package.
