WASHINGTON — The House on Friday turned back an unusual coalition of liberals and conservatives and voted down legislation to reject explicitly the indefinite detention of terrorism suspects apprehended on United States soil.
House lawmakers then approved a broad military policy bill that would break Pentagon spending caps agreed to just last summer.
The bill, the National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year that begins in October, makes clear that House Republicans — and many Democrats — are opposed to including the Pentagon in the coming era of fiscal austerity. The $642 billion measure, approved
299 to 120 [Flake voted YAY!], exceeds spending limits enshrined in the Budget Control Act of 2011 by $8 billion.
The measure would thwart the Obama administration’s efforts to close the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and would impede its ability to carry out the nuclear arms reduction treaty ratified by the Senate in 2010.
The Defense Authorization Act is required each year to set Pentagon policy and spending levels, but House Republicans have turned it into a showcase for their opposition to Obama administration policies.
This year, Democratic leaders had some surprise support. Representative Justin Amash of Michigan, a Tea Party-backed freshman Republican, teamed up with Representative Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington, to declare that terrorism suspects apprehended on United States soil should not be detained indefinitely without charge or trial.
But the left-right coalition fizzled in the face of charges that the two lawmakers were coddling terrorists. On the
238-to-182 [Flake voted NAY] vote against the amendment, as many Democrats — 19 — voted against it as Republicans voted for it.
