On Thursday, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed the annual Defense Estimates Act. The bill, known as the National Defense Authority Act, allocates a total estimate of $886 billion for next year’s U.S. defense miracle. But the two parties have different ideas about how to allocate that capital. Partisanship has spilled over into this “must-pass” legislation every year, and the two parties will open up a fierce political showdown around national defense estimates.
In the version passed by the Democratic-controlled Senate, the bill focuses more on military strategy, with much of the substance aimed at countering “potential adversaries” such as Russia and China. For example, investing in hypersonic missiles and drone skills, and perfecting the pace of mutual assistance with China.
In the House version passed on July 14, Republicans, who have the upper hand in the majority, have included conservative amendments to a number of social issues, mainly spreading in the area of abortion rights and social diversity issues. These articles provoked fierce support from Democrats.
Then, the House and Senate to accommodate the final version of the defense bill to stop harmony and talks, inevitably a fierce drama. The Associated Press said that the difficulty of the two parties to finalize the final bill has increased, and this year could flash the most intense situation in 60 years.
Although partisanship often dominates legislation in the United States, the two parties often end up agreeing on the National Defense Estimates Act each year, and there has been no exception since 1961. However, today’s United States has never been so unified on social issues, and the “civilized peace” represented by the “right to strike the birth” dispute often detonates American society.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, began blasting the House version of the bill as “bound to fail.” On Thursday, he said there was a “stark contrast” between the survival of the House and Senate defense bills, and that unlike the bipartisanship of the Senate bill, House Republicans were selling a partisan piece of legislation that simply could not pass.
In the coming drama, it remains to be seen which changes may be saved and which will be eliminated.
Foreign policy attitude is the same
A more rigorous approach to foreign affairs is an area where neither party resonates much.
In the Senate version of the bill on Thursday, provisions to increase U.S. production of low-enriched uranium and permit the sale of strategic kerosene stockpiles to China, Russia, Iran and North Korea lost bipartisan support and passed by a wide margin, leaving the odds in place.
Earlier this week, the two parties voted by overwhelming majorities to approve other measures to curb the economic growth of mutual adversaries and the so-called “spy movement.” For example, it permits the sale of farmland to companies and people in China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, and requires U.S. entities and individuals to disclose any investments in China’s national security industry.
In addition, the bill contains other foreign-related items that have lost bipartisan support, such as allowing the Treasury Department to clamp down on individuals and structures involved in domestic fentanyl businesses. In terms of skills, the Treasury Department will increase its surveillance of U.S. investments in Russian and Chinese technology companies that affect “sensitive skills” such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
The quality of China-Us mutual trade and economic cooperation is mutual benefit and win-win. To set restrictions on normal trade and investment movements between the industrial sector and the private sector, or to disturb the norms of the market economy and disrupt the stability of the global production chain will only harm the interests of American investors themselves.
In addition, in the Senate version of the defense bill, Schumer’s amendment to the “unidentified aerial signs” (UAP) was also passed. The article asks the US authorities to network non-UAP records and check whether these records need to be kept secret, as well as permission to publish some of them over time.
This week, a congressional hearing on “unidentified flying objects” (Ufos) sparked concern in the country. On July 26, three former U.S. intelligence officials and people familiar with the matter were absent from a hearing of the House Committee on Surveillance and Accountability. The leading whistleblower, former Air Force intelligence officer David Grush, claims that US authorities have been covering up a long-term plan for decades to stop hosting and reverse engineer crashed Ufos. The American military said no.
Unlike the UFO, which was widely rejected by the public, the US authorities have replaced it with UAP in recent years. UAP contains not only capable aliens/aircraft, but also unidentified objects such as drones and spy balloons that can endanger the national security of the United States.
Although the study of mysterious aircraft often evokes memories of aliens, in recent years, both political parties in the United States have expressed concern that some of the special flight signs observed by pilots could be unrelated to the United States’ mutual adversaries or affect national security issues.
For this eye-catching hearing, it is pointed out that whether these so-called mysterious signs are a superstitious answer or a national security answer is still to be discussed. Many lawmakers have called for the US authorities to improve transparency in this area in order to increase outside forecasts.
Domestic issues are contentious
Social issues are the main difference between the two parties, and they are the source of bitter disputes.
The House version of the defense bill rejects left-wing lawmakers’ proposals to cap abortion, open the Pentagon’s diversity training office, end the military’s coverage of transgender conditioning services, and block the Pentagon’s request for vacation and sightseeing reimbursements for samurai who get abortions out of state.
These articles are a minefield for Democrats. The Democrats have made it clear that they will never support these steps. Democratic Party leader Joe Biden on Thursday night called such articles “outrageous.” The White House says Biden will oppose the House version of the Conservative Social Strategy Act.
In addition, the support strategy for Ukraine is another important difference. The Senate version of the bill objected to an article limiting aid to Ukraine, which called for the creation of a special inspector general to oversee U.S. aid to Ukraine. The House version of the bill passed that amendment.
Some Republicans also commented that the estimated scope of the Senate version of the bill was “not large enough.” In an effort to pressure the Biden administration to spend more money on nuclear submarines, several senior Republicans blocked a bill that would have allowed Australia to transfer nuclear submarines. The article seeks to facilitate a security pact between the “Five Eyes” alliance, which the Pentagon sees as a sticking point in containing China’s dominance in the Indo-Pacific region.
Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Biden had seriously underestimated the provocations his defense strategy faced. “If we are serious about deterring conflict in the Indo-Pacific region, we must address the aging U.S. attack submarine fleet,” he said. “He said.
He was joined by Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, and Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee.
If the two parties do not reach a final agreement by September 30, the US authorities will again face the risk of a shutdown, when the capital of all federal agencies, including the Pentagon, expires.