House Passes HR 2397

Earlier this evening the House passed HR 2397, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014, in a largely bipartisan vote of 315 – 109. The vast majority of Republicans and almost half of the Democrats voted in favor of the spending bill. As expected the two amendments limiting military spending in Syria and Egypt (# 97 and #98) passed by voice votes. The least restrictive anti-NSA amendments (#99) passed overwhelmingly and the more restrictive (#100) narrowly failed.

As I noted earlier today, the one cybersecurity amendment cleared for consideration was never brought to the floor for debate or vote. The only cybersecurity measures in the House passed version of the bill are those that were included in the Appropriations Committee version of the bill.

It is not yet clear when the Senate will take up this bill as the Appropriations Committee still has not introduced their version of the bill yet.