House Republicans ignored the requests of the generals and a White House veto threat today,
passing their bloated defense spending authorization bill, 299-120.
The bill breaks the spending agreement made last year as part of the Budget Control Act, and spends much more than the Pentagon has asked for on programs it opposes.
That includes: a new missile defense system on the east coast; keeping ships and aircraft that the Pentagon is trying to retire; rejecting the military's request for domestic base closings; and about $4 billion more than the administration and the Pentagon set as a spending limit.
And there's more, including a ban on "same-sex marriages and 'marriage-like' ceremonies on military bases." Additionally, it includes "indefinite detention without trial of terrorism suspects, including U.S. citizens, captured on U.S. soil," despite a decision by a federal judge issued yesterday to block implementation of indefinite detention as included in last year's National Defense Authorization Act.
For these reasons, and more, the White House has said it will veto the bill.
12:04 PM PT: Final roll call here.