Sets defense policy and authorizes military spending for fiscal year 2024

§1What it does

Why this matters: A plain-English description of the bill as it was voted on, written by us from the official summary and text.

✎ Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

This law authorizes funding levels and sets policy for the Defense Department, military construction and the Energy Department's national security programs for fiscal year 2024, while the money itself is provided through separate spending bills.^2,3 The final version also includes authorization bills for the State Department and for intelligence agencies, extends the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative through 2026, and extends until April 19, 2024, the part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that covers surveillance of targets outside the United States.^3,4 Among its personnel provisions, it bars creating or filling diversity, equity and inclusion positions at the Defense Department until a Government Accountability Office report on that workforce is done, bars funds from being used to endorse critical race theory in military training and education, and requires the military to consider reinstatement requests from members who sought an exemption and were then discharged solely for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine.³ The version the House passed in July 2023 also included provisions left out of the final law, such as canceling a 2022 Pentagon memo on access to reproductive health care, which among other things set up travel allowances for service members and their families to get such care when it is not available nearby, and barring the military's TRICARE health program from covering gender transition surgery and hormone treatment.^3,4

§2Status

§3How Congress voted

Why this matters: The official count.