Tag: ndaa

Senate Advances $900 BILLION Defense Spending Bill with Military Aid to Ukraine

The US Senate on Monday voted to end the filibuster and advance the National Defense Authorization Act to a final vote. 

The bipartisan vote, 76-20, invoked cloture on the bill, bringing it one step closer to final passage, which could still take days.

Still, some lawmakers seek to amend the bill further, which would then require House passage before landing on the President’s desk.

Senator Ted Cruz, who showed no concern about Ukraine funding or other unnecessary provisions, has called for an amendment to restrict military aircraft at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), following the deadly crash between a female helicopter pilot and a passenger airplane in January.

The presidential hopeful released a campaign-style video of himself at a Monday press conference, calling for the rewriting of Section 373 of the bill and its replacement with his ROTR Act to add more protections for aviation safety in the bill’s language.

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Biggest Military Funding Bill Still Allows Promoting Soldiers By Race And Sex

Five months ago, in these pages I expressed concern that Congress was missing the opportunity to restore merit to the military personnel system. To accomplish that task I urged Congress to include a meritocracy provision in the 2026 NDAA that does four things: (1) require all military personnel actions to be based exclusively on merit; (2) forbid race and sex-based preferences; (3) provide for reasonable exceptions when mission success requires sex or race be considered; and (4) define key terms so idealogues in the Pentagon cannot manipulate the language to further their diversity agenda.

When the House and Senate passed their versions of the NDAA, it appeared that between the two chambers some progress toward establishing a merit-based personnel system was being made. When the compromise bill resolving the differences between the House and Senate version, S. 1017, was released last week, it was readily apparent that Congress had no intention of requiring merit principles to govern military personnel actions. To make matters worse, the drafters employed smoke and mirrors to put a merit-sounding title on a provision that just reinforces the Biden-era identity preference status quo.

What’s Not in the NDAA

The bill passed by the House had a provision that would have specifically forbidden the use of race or ethnicity in personnel actions except for certain special operations missions. It also required all personnel actions to be based “exclusively on individual merit, fitness, capability, and performance.”

While it did not address sex-based preferences, it did put Congress on the same page as the administration insofar as racial discrimination was concerned.

The initial Senate version, on the other hand, lacked any attempt to restore a meritocracy or to eliminate identity preferences. Had the final version negotiated between the House and the Senate accepted the House provision it would have been a big improvement. Instead, what we got was a provision that, when viewed in context, sends the unmistakable message that race and sex-based preferences are alive and well in the military personnel system.

Gaslighting on Merit

To appreciate the sleight of hand the Congress pulled off, one must look at how its members framed the issue. Section 525 of the final version of the bill is titled “Requirement of equal opportunity, racial neutrality, and exclusive use of merit in military personnel actions.” Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, it is the text of the legislation and not the title that is important. All this section does is add “command selection” to Section 529C of the 2024 NDAA so that the provision now reads, “MERIT REQUIREMENT. — A military accession, promotion, or command selection in the Department of Defense shall be based on individual merit and demonstrated performance.”

Note what this provision does not say. It does not say that personnel actions shall be exclusively based on merit and demonstrated performance. It does not say that racial and sex-based preferences shall not be applied in military personnel actions. It does not define “merit” and “demonstrated performance.” And it does not provide for reasonable and legitimate exceptions, such as assigning women to Female Engagement Teams and blacks to a special operations mission in Africa where the ability to blend in with the local population might be critical to mission success.

You may ask, “Why must Congress be so specific? The language seems straightforward, and a reasonable interpretation would not allow for discrimination or preferences.” When, however, ideologues get to interpret the statute, they will manipulate the language to further their ideological goals.

We know this because of what happened after President Biden signed the 2024 NDAA into law on December 22, 2023. From that point forward “military accession” and “promotion” were to be based on “individual merit and demonstrated performance.” Furthermore, “DOD Instruction 1350.02,” the Department of Defense (now called the Department of War under the Trump administration) policy on Equal Opportunity, required service members to be “evaluated only on individual merit, fitness, capability, and performance.” The statutory language and the department’s instruction would seem to make merit the standard. But things are not always as they seem.

Because neither the federal law nor the department’s policy specifically prohibited race and sex-based preferences and Congress did not define key terms, Pentagon ideologues continued with business as usual. Neither the 2024 NDAA provision nor the Department of War’s policy language contradicted the “diversity is a strategic imperative” mantra of the Biden Pentagon. Despite the language of the 2024 NDAA and the Pentagon policy, the senior leadership in the Pentagon and the Department of Justice argued in federal court that racial preferences were appropriate in granting admission to West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy. “Diversity is our strength,” they said.

In their interpretation of both the federal statutory law and Biden’s Defense Department policy, considering skin color to achieve diversity was part of the “merit” calculation. “Performance” was weighed not in relation to any objective standard, but relative to the amount of melanin in an applicant’sskin. When Congress fails to define key terms, ideologues can manipulate the language to achieve their goals. Clever lawyering can even convince federal judges to go along with the scam.

By adding “command selection” to a statute Department of War has already twisted to allow using racial preferences does not change anything. Furthermore, codifying the language of the DOW policy without defining the terms allows the DOW bureaucrats to supply their own definition.

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Senate passes $925 billion NDAA bill for military, national security

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, a $925 billion bill setting funding levels for America’s national defense spending, passed in the Senate Thursday night and included more than a dozen amendment votes. 

The legislation authorizes roughly $879 billion for the Pentagon and about $35 billion for national security programs in the Department of Energy. It also sets aside nearly $11 billion for other defense activities.

“We’re ready to show on both sides of the aisle that the Senate can act in the interest of national security and get something done on a bipartisan basis,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told lawmakers Thursday.

“We have a great product before us,” Wicker added. “It makes huge changes, significant changes, and we need to send the signal that we can do this, get it then coordinated with the House version, which has already been passed, and move it to the President of the United States for his early signature.”

Multiple new offices, groups, and positions within the DOD would be established under the bill, including those focused on cybersecurity; nuclear security, deterrence, and energy; and AI innovation and oversight.

Hundreds of billions of dollars for munitions stocking and defense infrastructure are included, as well as billions for American defense activities in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East.

The bill also includes significant accountability reforms to how the DOD contracts with third parties and how it fulfills statutory reporting requirements. Additionally, it requires the Pentagon, which has failed seven consecutive audits, to report on current audit progress as the 2028 statutory deadline approaches.

Military members would receive a 3.8% pay raise, and education services for their children would receive a $50 million boost.

Senators will begin voting on dozens of amendments to the 1,454-page bill Thursday evening. Given the current government shutdown, lawmakers may have to delay a vote on passage. Once the bill passes, the Senate must conference with the House to ensure the lower chamber’s version of the NDAA matches their own.

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Will Congress’ Chinese Derangement Syndrome Ground Drones?

Those who hoped that our leaders have recovered from China Derangement Syndrome (CDS) may soon be disappointed. This is because Congress is considering including legislation targeting Chinese drone manufacturer DJI to this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

DJI is the world’s largest drone manufacturer and is estimated to control between 65% and 90% of the world’s drone market. DJI’s drones are user-friendly and can safely be operated even by novice drone users.

One reason for DJI’s popularity is it protects their users’ privacy. DJI does not store user data within its system unless the user opts to. DJI also uses a “Local Data Mode” assuring that user data is locally controlled and kept off the internet. Universities, filmmakers, hobbyists, farmers, and first responders are amongst those who use DJI drones. Many businesses have found DJI an invaluable tool to increase efficiency. Individuals and businesses use DJI drones to take photographs, record videos, and even do deliveries.

You soon may have your pizza flown to you thanks to a DJI drone. More importantly, a DJI drone operated by a first responder could someday save your life and/or the life of a loved one—unless Congress gets in the way.   

CDS has led many in Congress to conclude that because DJI is a Chinese company, it is controlled by the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—even though no representative of the Chinese government or the CCP sits on DJI’s board—has influence over the companies’ policies and operations.

These facts have not stopped Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) from introducing two bills to “protect” the American-people from DJI. One, the Countering CCP Drones Act, adds DJI products to the official list of items constituting a “national security risk” that are banned in the USA. The bill would do more than just prevent future purchases of DJI products; it could lead to the Federal Communications Commission revoking existing authorizations for DJI drones.

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House Passes $883 Billion Annual Defense Bill With Culture War Amendments

The House of Representatives on June 14 passed its annual defense policy bill with GOP-approved culture war amendments that are certain to put the House on a collision course with the Democrat-controlled Senate.

The final tally on the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) vote was 217–199, with six Democrats voting in favor and three Republicans voting against.

The $883.7 billion bill, which has more than 1,000 pages, provides continued funding for military aircraft, ships, vehicles, and weapons programs. It also includes a 4.5 percent pay raise for U.S. service members and about 15 percent in additional pay for some junior enlisted service members, bringing their overall pay boost to nearly 20 percent under this year’s budget.

The NDAA includes culture war provisions such as eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) positions within the Department of Defense (DoD) and imposing a hiring freeze on DEI positions in the DoD. There is a measure to block DoD funding for abortion-related expenses, another that bars the DoD from funding or providing gender transition surgeries and hormone treatments, as well as measures to prohibit the DoD’s education arm from purchasing or displaying material that “promotes radical gender ideology or pornographic content.”

The House version also includes an amendment, introduced by Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), that prohibits the Pentagon from contracting with entities that have engaged in boycotts of Israel and would bar the department from selling products made by entities that boycott Israel at any of its commissary stores or military exchanges.

Another amendment, introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), would block the DoD from allocating funds for various climate-action-related executive orders issued by President Joe Biden.

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Proof aliens exist? Federal agencies must now deliver all UFO reports for public disclosure – including classified material

Federal agencies have until October 20th to deliver every document, audio and video they have about UFOs to the US government for distribution to the public.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) issued the instructions this month — putting into action the UFO disclosure amendment to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), as signed into law last December.

The guidelines reveal the latest strategy to compel unwilling parts of the US military and the intelligence community into revealing everything they know about the mysterious airborne events, now called Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). 

The move comes two months after the Pentagon‘s UFO office issued a controversial report to Congress, claiming it ‘found no verifiable evidence that the US government or private industry has ever had access to extraterrestrial technology.’

NARA archivists have issued guidelines mandating that all UFO or UAP documents be delivered in electronic formats with detailed metadata for inclusion a new searchable database to be made available to the public. 

The database will include classified material that the NARA will store independently, safe keeping the records until they can be declassified for the public.

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Feds Enforcing Unconstitutional Reporting Law Against Most Businesses

Early this month, a federal judge in Alabama held the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional and granted plaintiffs in a lawsuit summary judgment against enforcement of the wide-reaching law, which went into effect this year. For many Americans this raises the questions: “What in hell is the Corporate Transparency Act? Does it affect me?” The quick answer is that it’s a big deal, and if you own an incorporated business, you’ll probably still suffer its intrusive requirements even after the ruling.

“When Congress passed the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, it included a bill called the Corporate Transparency Act (‘CTA’). Although the CTA made up just over 21 pages of the NDAA’s nearly 1,500-page total, the law packs a significant regulatory punch, requiring most entities incorporated under State law to disclose personal stakeholder information to the Treasury Department’s criminal enforcement arm,” Judge Liles C. Burke of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama’s Northeastern Division handily summarized in this month’s ruling.

Large businesses are exempt; the law applies to companies with 20 or fewer employees.

Justifications for the law laid out in early versions of the legislation invoked a laundry list of alleged financial horribles including money laundering and tax evasion. The word terrorism appears, too, of course, because that has been the lazy, default justification for legislation for 20-plus years. Basically, the law is targeted at anything that might involve a modicum of financial privacy.

To that end, the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) set up an online reporting system through which business owners “are required to report information to FinCEN about the individuals who ultimately own or control them.” FinCEN started compiling reports for such “beneficial ownership information” (BOI) on January 1, 2024 with a deadline for compliance of January 1, 2025, or 30 days after creation for companies registered following that date.

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Congress Approves Bill to Prevent Any President From Leaving NATO

Packed into the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act that’s been approved by both the House and Senate is an amendment designed to prevent any future president from withdrawing the US from NATO.

The legislation was a bipartisan effort led by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) and would prohibit the president from leaving NATO without Senate approval or an Act of Congress.

According to The Hill, Kaine said the legislation “reaffirms US support for this crucial alliance that is foundational for our national security. It also sends a strong message to authoritarians around the world that the free world remains united.”

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The NDAA’s ‘Warrantless Backdoor Surveillance’ of Americans Gets Approved by the Senate

In a last-minute rush to sanction spending before the end of the year, the Senate enacted a $886 billion defense spending proposal Wednesday, sponsored by President Joe Biden, that includes financing for Ukraine, yearly pay hikes for personnel, and most controversially, a reauthorization of the the National Defense Authorization Act

The NDAA funds Pentagon objectives such as training and equipment. The Act was approved by a bipartisan majority of 87-13 in the Senate. For the last 61 years in a row, Congress has advanced the must-pass defense budget measure.

“At a time of huge trouble for global security, doing the defense authorization bill is more important than ever,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “Passing the NDAA enables us to hold the line against Russia, stand firm against the Chinese Communist Party and ensure America’s defense remain state of the art at all times.”

The package now moves to the House, where some conservative Republicans have vowed to derail it after legislators removed disputed elements that would have changed the Pentagon’s abortion policy and provide certain so-called “transgender” medical procedures.

The NDAA approved by the Senate is a compromise version of the budget package passed by the House earlier this year. The House version includes elements aimed at the Pentagon’s transgender health care regulations, as well as an amendment to repeal a Pentagon policy that reimburses out-of-state travel for service members who have abortions.

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CONGRESS IS PUSHING REVOLUTIONARY RESEARCH ON PSYCHEDELIC TREATMENTS FOR THE MILITARY

CONGRESS IS ON track to approve legislation that would mark a significant advance in U.S. policy toward psychedelics. 

Tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024 is a provision to fund clinical trials using psychedelic substances to treat active duty members of the military.

Section 723 of the NDAA directs the secretary of defense to partner with a federal or state government agency, or an academic institution, to carry out the research. The bill would fund the treatment of members of the military with post-traumatic stress or a traumatic brain injury with a number of psychedelic substances, including MDMA, psilocybin, ibogaine, DMT, and other plant-based alternative therapies (such as ayahuasca).

Research surrounding psychedelics as a possible treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder have slowly grown, and recent studies have shown promising results, with patients benefiting from even just a few treatments including MDMA and psilocybin. Already, the Food and Drug Administration has designated both treatments as “breakthrough therapies”: a special designation given to expedite the research and development into drugs with the potential to treat serious conditions. On Tuesday, MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, which focuses on psychedelic treatments for mental health issues, submitted a new drug application to the FDA for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. The company says it’s the first such submission for any psychedelic-assisted therapy.

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