Senate sends Trump annual defense policy bill without changes to address bipartisan concerns on aircraft safety

<i>Brian Snyder/Reuters/File via CNN Newsource</i><br/>US troops gather at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha

By CNN Newsource

today at 9:29 AM

Published December 17, 2025 11:56 AM

By Morgan Rimmer, CNN

(CNN) — The Senate passed the annual defense policy bill, sending it to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.

Democrats and Republicans in the Senate voted overwhelmingly, 77-20, to approve the National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes nearly $900 billion in funding for military programs, including a 3.8% pay raise for service members, and sets out the nation’s defense policy agenda.

The House of Representatives approved the package last week, and Trump is expected to sign it, having previously urged its passage.

Among the massive bill’s more controversial measures is a provision that pressures the Pentagon to provide more information on military strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean, which was added after the revelation of a follow-up strike conducted on September 2. The package would cut Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget by 25% until unedited videos of the strikes are released to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

Earlier this week, Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio held classified briefings for all House members and Senators on the strikes. Hegseth told reporters on Tuesday the Pentagon will not release to the public the full video of the controversial September strike.

The NDAA would also repeal the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for the use of military force against Iraq, repeal sanctions on Syria, and seek to limit the Trump administration’s ability to significantly draw down troops from Europe.

Another provision aims to support efforts to recover Ukrainian children who have been abducted by Russia. The provision, based on bipartisan, bicameral legislation, would restore US support for the work to track and return the stolen children. Earlier this year, the Trump administration cut funding to the leading organization that tracks evidence of Russian war crimes, including the forced relocation of the estimated tens of thousands of Ukrainian children who have been taken by Russia.

Senators from both parties had raised alarms about a measure in the package that they warn will weaken safety measures put in place after last year’s deadly plane crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Ted Cruz and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell, along with Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, pushed for an amendment to the bill to ensure that a new rule instituted after the crash remains in place. The rule requires military aircraft to transmit their locations using a more precise system.

The senators, and others, warned that the NDAA includes a loophole that would permit military aircraft to use a less precise system, like the one that the Black Hawk military helicopter was using on the night of the collision with the American Airlines plane. Their amended language was ultimately not added to the bill.

Later on Wednesday, the Senate unanimously adopted a bipartisan bill to close the loophole, but it still needs to pass the House. GOP Sen. Ted Cruz said he hopes the House will take it up “expeditiously”

Senators expressed concerns about other omissions in the defense policy bill.

Many lawmakers, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, were dismayed that language to expand coverage of fertility services like in vitro fertilization for service members on TRICARE was absent from the package. Earlier House and Senate versions of the bill contained such language, but it was left out of the final product.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Ellis Kim and Jenny Hansler contributed to this report.