Biden Signs Defense Bill with Restriction on Transgender Care for Military Families

The $895 billion legislation includes military pay raises but bans TRICARE from covering gender-affirming care for service members' children under 18.

• President Joe Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) despite opposing a provision restricting gender-affirming care for transgender youth in military families.
• The provision prohibits TRICARE, the military's health insurance program, from funding gender-affirming treatments for children under 18, impacting approximately 2,500 transgender youths.
• Biden expressed concerns that the measure undermines military recruitment and retention and interferes with parental decision-making on healthcare.
• The $895 billion bill also includes a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted troops, a 4.5% raise for other service members, and funding to counter China's growing influence.
• Advocacy groups and some Democrats criticized the provision as discriminatory, marking it as the first federal anti-LGBTQ+ law in nearly three decades.

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