House passes major Pentagon bill despite Dem revolt over transgender health care

The hang up in the bill — which took months of negotiations between parties — centers on a provision that would prohibit the military’s Tricare health system from covering gender dysphoria treatments “that could result in sterilization” for children under 18. Ranking House Armed Services Democrat Adam Smith called the measure “bigoted against the trans community” and said it would undermine an otherwise bipartisan bill. “And we are now denying that to the children of servicemembers.” House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers also expressed dismay at the inclusion of the provision, arguing that President-elect Donald Trump could simply reverse it, and many other personnel policies, when he returns to the White House. The bill sticks to the cap on national defense spending that lawmakers set under last year’s debt limit deal — and equal to the amount President Joe Biden requested in his final budget. Negotiators ultimately shelved a proposed $25 billion increase to the bill’s price tag pushed by Senate Armed Services Committee ranking Republican Roger Wicker.