Senate readies for vote on defense bill to raise troop pay, bar trans care coverage for minors

The Senate is voting on final passage of a sweeping defense bill that will authorize significant pay raises for junior enlisted service members and boost overall military spending to $895 billion. It also strips coverage of transgender medical treatments for children of military members. The annual defense authorization bill usually gains strong bipartisan support and hasn't failed to pass Congress in nearly six decades. But Pentagon policy in recent years has become a battleground for cultural issues. Republicans this year sought to tack on priorities for social conservatives to the legislation. Still, all but a handful of Senate Democrats have supported the procedure to bring the compromise legislation to a final vote.