In a 351-66 vote, the House of Representatives has passed their version of the 2019 military spending bill, the National Defense Authorization Act. The NDAA intends to spend $717 billion in the next fiscal year on the military, wars, and nuclear arms.

This is another substantial increase in military spending, broadly supported within both parties. Only 7 Republicans voted against the bill, while Democrats were a bit more split on the matter. Either way, amendments intended to limit nuclear weapons spending or the like were roundly defeated.

One amendment that did manage to make its way into the NDAA was from Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), which demands the Department of Defense investigate if US allies in Yemen were torturing detainees.

The UN had already confirmed that UAE forces were responsible for acts of torture in Yemen, and the investigation is intended to find out if US troops in the country have, in violation of US law, been participating in Emirati torture sessions.

The NDAA bill passed today still has to be reconciled with the Senate version, which was passed by committee in a closed session. Once the two are reconciled, there will be final votes, though there appears so far to be little momentum to resist the ever growing expenses.