The House’s fiscal year 2017 defense policy bill is likely to pass through the lower chamber after Republican lawmakers voted 240-185 to bar a debate on an amendment that would prohibit federal contractors to discriminate LGBT people in employment, Defense News reported Wednesday.Joe Gould writes the House’s proposed appropriations bill includes measures that would allocate $517.1 billion in discretionary funds for the Defense Department’s base budget and direct approximately $16 billion from overseas contingency operations funds toward the base budget.
The House Rules Committee on Tuesday passed 75 out of the 108 filed amendments to the proposed legislation and Republican lawmakers allowed several amendments to be put up for debate, according to the report.
These include a measure that would authorize $80 million to replace the UH-1N Huey helicopter, an amendment to remove a prohibition on a new round of base realignment and closures, two bipartisan amendments for an updated Authorization of Use of Military Force, and measures related to the Guantanamo Bay military detainment facility in Cuba, Gould reports.
The lower chamber tackles amendments to the bill after the Senate approved its version of the defense spending bill Tuesday.
