An anti-LGBTQ provision included in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has become a hurdle to the bill's final passage when lawmakers return to Washington following the election. The White House is now privately saying the president will veto the $600 billion NDAA over the GOP-sponsored provision, which would allow federal contractors to discriminate against women and LGBTQ Americans for religious reasons while still receiving taxpayer dollars.
Senate Democrats have also joined together in a sign on letter that has attracted 42 of the Democratic caucus's 46 members. Karoun Demirjian writes:
“Our government should have no part in funding discrimination,” reads a letter penned by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and signed by 42 Democrats and independents – enough to filibuster the defense bill if they hold the line. It is being delivered to the chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
The letter comes just two weeks before lawmakers are expected back in Washington for a lame-duck session, when Congress will be under a serious time crunch to pass the annual legislation that authorizes military programs. [...]
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Wednesday, Oct 26, 2016 · 7:12:33 PM +00:00 · Kerry Eleveld
UPDATE: When White House press secretary Josh Earnest was asked Wednesday specifically about an NDAA veto on the anti-LGBTQ provision, he declined to issue a veto threat on that language alone but said, "the inclusion of that provision in the House version is absolutely one of the reasons that the president would veto that bill in the unlikely event that it were to come to his desk in its current form."
Democrats are not explicitly threatening to filibuster the bill if it contains he LGBT provision, but the number of senators signing on to the letter makes it clear that is an option.
In addition, Congressional Quarterly reported that White House chief of staff Denis McDonough has been contacting key lawmakers about the provision. This is an improvement from where we were a week ago when we first raised alarm bells about the provision, which was offered earlier this year as an attachment to the NDAA by Oklahoma GOP Rep. Steve Russell. We will continue to revisit this looming battle as updates arise.
UPDATE: Here’s a longer excerpt of what Josh Earnest told Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson during Wednesday’s press briefing (starts at 1:50:00):
Earnest: “At this point, I'm not prepared to single out particular elements of a potential Defense authorization act bill and say whether or not one proposal or another is going to draw a veto. But the inclusion of that provision in the House version is absolutely one of the reasons that the president would veto that bill in the unlikely event that it were to come to his desk in its current form.
And the prospect that Republicans would hold hostage funding for our national security unless the president makes it easier for companies to discriminate against gay people is ridiculous—but unfortunately consistent with the pattern of behavior we have seen from Republicans in Congress over the last several years. So the president does feel strongly about this but I'm not prepared to single out specific provisions. [...]
I assure you that those views have been communicated very clearly to Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. [...] There's no mistaking the president's strong view on this issue.”