US finally approves defence budget, with US$300 million earmarked for Ukraine

The US House of Representatives has approved the National Defense Authorization Act, which provides a record US$886 billion for the 2024 fiscal year. This decision was previously agreed upon by Congress.

Source: European Pravda with reference to The Hill

Details: 310 members of the lower house of Congress voted for the US defence budget, 118 were against it. The House passed the law by a two-thirds majority.

Hard-line conservatives protested the National Defense Authorization Act's final version, which was agreed upon by the House and Senate, because it did not include several amendments that the House had passed during the summer to remove what they called "woke" Pentagon policies.  

Among other things, the final version of the document does not contain restrictions on the Pentagon's abortion policy or the Pentagon's ban on funding treatment for workers and the military that relate to gender dysphoria.

At the same time, there remains a provision to extend the controversial programme of surveillance of foreigners by the Federal Bureau of Investigation until early 2025.

As for Ukraine, the bill extends the Initiative to provide security assistance to Ukraine, authorising within its framework the allocation of US$300 million for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 (i.e. until September 2025).

Once approved in the Senate, the legislation goes to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it.

The funds to support Ukraine included in the US defence budget are separate from the US$111 billion additional funding project stuck in Congress.

The US Congress has still not approved Biden's request for additional funding to help Ukraine due to opposition from some Republicans. And the speaker refused to continue the work of the House of Representatives of the US Congress next week, which means that it is impossible to adopt this project before Christmas.

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