House Passes Labor-Friendly Amendments to Defense Spending Bill

The US House approved a bevy of worker-friendly proposals hooked onto the annual discretionary defense spending bill, even after business groups raised concerns ahead of the votes.

The House Thursday voted 329-101 to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 7900) for fiscal year 2023, to which lawmakers attempted to attach some 650 amendments. A group of those changes touched on hot-button workplace issues like union busting.

The proposed amendments—many of which were approved—convey some of the top policy wishes of the pro-labor Biden administration, such as giving preference to union-friendly federal contractors. The final fate of the ...