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The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved an $883.7 billion defense policy and budget bill in a primarily party-line vote, after integrating numerous contentious amendments addressing climate change, abortion, and diversity programs.

House of Representatives Passes $884B Defense Bill For 2025 : Contentious Amendments Spark Debate

Lawmakers voted 217-199 in favor of H.R. 8070, the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement Act and National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2025. The bill passed with only six Democrats supporting it and three Republicans voting against it, following the consideration of 350 amendments on the House floor.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., emphasized the bill's focus on quality of life issues during Wednesday's debate, noting it was the "first time in decades" the annual defense bill had a distinct short title beyond "National Defense Authorization Act."

"No service member should have to live in squalid conditions," Rogers said. "No military family should have to rely on food stamps to feed their children. And no one serving this country should have to wait weeks to see a doctor or a mental health specialist. But that's exactly what many of our service members are experiencing, especially the junior enlisted. This bill will go a long way toward fixing that."

House of Representatives Passes $884B Defense Bill For 2025 : Breakdown of the $884B Budget

The bill allocates $849.8 billion to the U.S. Department of Defense, $33.3 billion for nuclear weapons activities at the U.S. Department of Energy, and approximately $500 million for other defense-related activities, aligning with the bipartisan budget agreement established in 2023's Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Initially, the House Armed Services Committee passed the bill with broad bipartisan support, 57-1, on May 22. Despite this support, the bill included several clauses aimed at "ending the radical woke ideology being forced on our servicemen and women," according to the Republican majority, by eliminating affirmative action at military academies and restricting the DOD from implementing new climate change rules or hiring diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) staff.

Controversial Amendments Lead to Partisan Split

However, amendments introduced during floor debate from Wednesday through Friday, which Democrats referred to as "culture war" amendments, led most Democrats to vote against the final version of the bill. These amendments include prohibitions on using DOD funds for implementing climate change-related executive orders, eliminating DEI offices and staff within the DOD, and barring the use of DOD funds for gender-affirming treatments or abortion services.