The House of Representatives voted on a slew of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Tuesday, an annual bill setting military and national security policy each fiscal year.
A contentious amendment led by Rep. Nancy Mace aimed to block students born male from participating on girls' athletic teams at schools run by the Department of War. The amendment was adopted in an overall 221 to 203 vote, with all Republicans voting in favor.
Five House Democrats broke away from their party leaders to vote with Republicans on the measure. The Democrats who voted in favor of the amendment were Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Shomari Figures of Alabama, Don Davis of North Carolina, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, and Terri Sewell of Alabama.
The majority of Democrats, 203, voted against the amendment. All four senior leaders in the House Democratic Caucus, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, voted against the amendment.
The issue of transgender participation in school sports remains a divisive topic within the Democratic Party. The NDAA amendment and the overall bill are far from becoming law, as both chambers of Congress must pass identical versions before it gets to the President's desk.
Rep. Mace stated that the amendment would "end this nonsense" and "ban biological males from competing against biological women in Department of Defense Education Activity schools." She emphasized that "our warfighters' daughters deserve better than this."
