Women in draft, religious exemptions dropped from final version of defense policy bill
By Karoun Demirjian November 29 at 6:08 PM
The most controversial measures in a defense policy bill forcing women to register for the draft and allowing federal contractors to make religious-based hiring decisions have been dropped from the compromise version negotiated by lawmakers.
But lawmakers did approve plans to slash by half the National Security Council to no more than 200 staff positions – a backlash inspired by former defense secretaries’ complaints the NSC is too controlling of foreign policy and military decision-making.
Lawmakers from the House and Senate Armed Service committees agreed on those and other terms as part of a behemoth $618.7 defense bill to fund Pentagon programs and overseas wars, according to committee staff, striking the compromise only after months of wrangling over each chamber’s bills, both of which the White House threatened to veto.
The House plans to vote on the compromise measure this Friday and the Senate will do so next week.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/11/29/women-in-draft-religious-exemptions-dropped-from-final-version-of-defense-policy-poll/?utm_term=.066cc9bb69ea&wpisrc=nl_politics&wpmm=1
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