Biden signs defence bill that includes anti-trans restrictions
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 has been signed into law (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Outgoing US president Joe Biden has signed in law a defence bill that will increase military salaries and overall spending but contains a controversial provision to restrict gender-affirming care access for the trans children of members of the armed services.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 is the most recent iteration of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), an annual piece of legislation which outlines military spending and budgets, and was passed by the senate in a 85-14 vote last week.
Since being first introduced more than 60 years ago, the NDAA has not failed to pass congress.
The legislation outlines pay rises for military personnel, significant funding for new battleships and increased annual military spending of up to $895 billion (£712.5 billion). However, the bill also contains an anti-trans clause which will prevent Tricare – the US military’s healthcare plan for those in service – from issuing “medical interventions” to those under the age of 18 “for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilisation”.
The healthcare provision was widely criticised by activists, military members and politicians, with the organisation representing LGBTQ+ service people and veterans labelling it a “direct attack on military families and a betrayal of our nation’s promise to those who serve”.
Signing the bill into law as his administration is “pleased to support the critical objectives of the Act”, Biden noted “concerns” about the anti-trans provision in a statement as “interferes with parents’ roles to determine the best care for their children”.
“My Administration strongly opposes Division A, title VII, subtitle A, section 708 of the Act, which inhibits the Department of Defense’s ability to treat all persons equally under the law, no matter their gender identity,” Biden said.
“By prohibiting the use of appropriated funds, the Department of Defense will be compelled to contravene clinical practice guidelines and clinical recommendations. The provision targets a group based on that group’s gender identity and interferes with parents’ roles to determine the best care for their children.
“This section undermines our all-volunteer military’s ability to recruit and retain the finest fighting force the world has ever known by denying health care coverage to thousands of our service members’ children. No service member should have to decide between their family’s health care access and their call to serve our Nation.”
The passage of the bill comes after a turbulent few weeks for the trans community in the United States following Donald Trump’s win in the Novemeber presidential election, with the Republican president elect vowing to remove trans people from nearly all aspects of public life.
It will be the official policy of the United States government when he returns to office “that there are only two genders, male and female,” he said in a speech at a Turning Point USA event for young conservatives in Phoenix, Arizona on Sunday (22 December).
“I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools,” he told the cheering crowd of GOP voters, vowing to also “keep men out of women’s sports”.
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