Sprawling defense bill will ‘restore warrior ethos’, House speaker says
Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of US politics. Lawmakers have unveiled an annual defense policy bill authorizing a record $901bn in national security spending next year.
The budget for the defense department is $8bn more than the $892.6bn in the Trump administration’s budget request for the department.
The sweeping 3,000-page bill includes a 4% raise for enlisted troops, with the legislation seeking to codify some of Donald Trump’s executive orders, including those aimed at accelerating American manufacturing of drones, and developing the so-called “Golden Dome” missile defense system that the White House envisions will protect the US from possible foreign strikes.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives will be cut under the bill, which will see troops deployed to the south-west US border to apparently intercept undocumented immigrants and drugs.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said the legislation would advance Trump’s agenda by “ending woke ideology at the Pentagon, securing the border, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and restoring the warrior ethos.”
European officials will be pleased to read that the bill prevents the Pentagon from cutting the number of troops permanently stationed or deployed to Europe below 76,000 for more than 45 days.
This is unless the defense secretary and head of the US European Command certify to Congress that the deployment is against America’s national security interest, and will have to provide assessments of the withdrawal’s impact, among other requirements.
The bill also provides $400m in military assistance to Ukraine, reflecting Kyiv’s need to defend itself against Russia’s continuing aggression.
On another foreign policy front, the bill repeals two resolutions authorizing the use of military force in Iraq in 1991 and 2002. Stay with us as we bring you more on this story and the other major political developments from the US.
Key events
Since returning to office in January, Trump has authorised a sweeping system of mass arrests, incarcerations and deportations under the banner of an illegal immigration clampdown.
Human rights experts, however, have raised serious concerns about the detention of children with their parents and the arrest of people without charge or due process.
The activities of ICE agents is causing fear and anxiety across American cities, with many immigrant communities, and people of colour born in the US, terrified of being racially profiled and swept up in the raids.
My colleague Lucy Campbell has this report shedding light on the collective trauma inflicted on the immigrant communities of New Orleans. Here is a video showing the strength of feeling against the ICE crackdown in a combative New Orleans city council meeting:
In other news, New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has explained people’s right to refuse to speak to or comply with agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In a video posted to social media yesterday, he vowed to protect the city’s three million immigrants and the constitutional and legal rights of every New Yorker.
Mamdani, who will take office on 1 January, said ICE agents cannot enter into private spaces – like homes and schools – without a judge-signed judicial warrant and people have the right to keep their door closed if there no such warrant is presented.
He said:
ICE is legally allowed to lie to you, but you have the right to remain silent. If you’re being detained, you may always ask, am I free to go repeatedly until they answer you.
You are legally allowed to film ICE as long as you do not interfere with an arrest. It is important to remain calm during any interaction with Ice or law enforcement. Do not impede their investigation, resist arrest, or run.
Mamdani’s video comes a week or so after a raid by federal immigration authorities on the edge of Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood, which was thwarted by about 200 protesters.
You can read the National Defense Authorization Act in full here.
Sprawling defense bill will ‘restore warrior ethos’, House speaker says
Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of US politics. Lawmakers have unveiled an annual defense policy bill authorizing a record $901bn in national security spending next year.
The budget for the defense department is $8bn more than the $892.6bn in the Trump administration’s budget request for the department.
The sweeping 3,000-page bill includes a 4% raise for enlisted troops, with the legislation seeking to codify some of Donald Trump’s executive orders, including those aimed at accelerating American manufacturing of drones, and developing the so-called “Golden Dome” missile defense system that the White House envisions will protect the US from possible foreign strikes.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives will be cut under the bill, which will see troops deployed to the south-west US border to apparently intercept undocumented immigrants and drugs.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said the legislation would advance Trump’s agenda by “ending woke ideology at the Pentagon, securing the border, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and restoring the warrior ethos.”
European officials will be pleased to read that the bill prevents the Pentagon from cutting the number of troops permanently stationed or deployed to Europe below 76,000 for more than 45 days.
This is unless the defense secretary and head of the US European Command certify to Congress that the deployment is against America’s national security interest, and will have to provide assessments of the withdrawal’s impact, among other requirements.
The bill also provides $400m in military assistance to Ukraine, reflecting Kyiv’s need to defend itself against Russia’s continuing aggression.
On another foreign policy front, the bill repeals two resolutions authorizing the use of military force in Iraq in 1991 and 2002. Stay with us as we bring you more on this story and the other major political developments from the US.
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