Utah Rep. Maloy pushes against amendment to reinstate military reimbursements for abortion travel
During an appropriations hearing on Thursday, Maloy rejected an amendment seeking to implement a 2022 policy allowing for reimbursements for abortion-related travel and attach it to legislation funding the Defense Department for the 2026 fiscal year. Maloy argued the proposal runs afoul of the Hyde Amendment, a federal statute passed in 1976 prohibiting federal funds from going toward abortion costs, with few exceptions.
'The Hyde Amendment is a clear federal ban on abortion funding, except in the cases of rape, incest and life of the mother,' Maloy said in her remarks. 'It's been in place every appropriation cycle for 40 years. And I've been here, I've heard a lot of talk about partisanship and how this should not be a partisan bill, but this is a completely partisan amendment, whereas the Hyde Amendment has been a bipartisan consensus for four decades.'
The amendment, proposed by a Democrat during the appropriations hearing, was ultimately rejected.
The DOD issued a policy shortly after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 that would allow military members to receive travel reimbursements and approved leave for abortion-related reasons. That policy was largely approved to allow service members in states where abortion was banned locally to travel across state lines if needed.
That provision was criticized by Republicans and was rescinded shortly after Donald Trump took office in January and signed an executive order enforcing the Hyde Amendment and restricting taxpayer dollars from being used for any abortion-related reasons.
Maloy pushed against reinstating that policy, arguing it forces taxpayers to fund travel and lodging costs for a procedure they may disagree with.
'The federal government must exercise restraint and respect diverse moral values of American people,' Maloy said. 'This amendment is not in the spirit of that neutrality, not in the spirit of the Dobbs decision or the Hyde Amendment.'
'This would allow the DOD to make federal abortion policy that isn't in keeping with what Congress has done through the Hyde Amendment, and that's a path that I don't think we should start to go down,' she added. 'Federal abortion policy should be uniform like it has been for 40 years through bipartisan consensus in the Hyde Amendment. Abortions, including abortion travel or enhanced leave policies designed to facilitate abortions, have no place in this bill.'
Republicans overwhelmingly rejected the amendment and the House Appropriations Committee advanced the larger bill, the Fiscal Year 2026 Defense Appropriations Act.
The legislation seeks to provide more than $830 billion to the Defense Department and includes policies to increase pay for military personnel, modernize weapons systems, codify some DOGE suggestions to cut 'waste, fraud and abuse' within the department, and more.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
25 minutes ago
- New York Post
Ex-CBS reporter rips network's ‘bias' after Shari Redstone expressed concerns over Biden interview
Former CBS News investigative reporter Catherine Herridge called out the network after a report revealed that Shari Redstone expressed concerns that '60 Minutes' may have downplayed President Biden's mental decline during a sitdown in 2023. Herridge — who was fired last year as part of a wider cost-cutting purge by parent company Paramount ahead of its $8 billion merger with Skydance — slammed CBS News for its lack of 'media transparency' after Redstone said the Biden interview played a part in her decision to settle with President Trump. The daughter of the late media mogul Sumner Redstone drew wide-spread criticism for agreeing to pay Trump $16 million over his allegations that '60 Minutes' deceptively edited an interview with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris to make her sound better shortly before November's election. 4 Redstone, who sold Paramount to Skydance earlier this month, said she felt CBS needed more balance to its reporting on issues like Israel's war against Hamas. FilmMagic Redstone, however, feared that going to trial could expose the network to a claim that '60 Minutes' concealed the aging Biden's condition, she told the New York Times on Tuesday. Herridge has demanded that CBS release the raw video and transcripts of the interview by '60 Minutes' correspondent Scott Pelley. 'Last year, I called for more transparency. @60Minutes about its October 2023 interview with President Biden. Now we learn via @nytimes even the owner Shari Redstone had concerns,' the award-winning journalist wrote on X late Tuesday. 4 Herridge slammed her former employer for a lack of transparency after Shari Redstone told The Times she was concerned over '60 Minutes'' edit of its Biden sitdown. Getty Images 'Releasing the raw video and transcripts from the Biden interview would address the larger question of whether there is a pattern and practice @CBSNews of heavy-handed editing to make some politicians look better and other politicians look worse. In this case, did editing conceal President Biden's cognitive decline?' When contacted by The Post, Herridge added that '60 Minutes' should make the material public in order to garner the public's trust in the storied outlet. 'If there's no problem, making the material public would reinforce '60 Minutes' position that their editing meets the highest standards,' she said, adding that if the program refuses it says a lot. 'My training is that with major newsmakers, the full transcript should always be released.' Herridge had previously told The Post that CBS CEO George Cheeks gave her the green light to prioritize balanced coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story at the behest of Redstone, but faced roadblocks from her immediate bosses. She reiterated that claim in her post on Tuesday. 'I was stunned by the obstruction and bias of some senior CBS News executives who resisted the balanced coverage Redstone had called for,' she wrote on Tuesday. Cheeks has been retained by the newly-formed Paramount Skydance Corp. as chief of its media and TV division. Redstone walked away with around $2 billion after selling her controlling stake in Paramount to Skydance. She told the Times that part of the reason she wanted to settle Trump's $20 billion lawsuit was because it could help address the network's anti-Israel bias. 4 Redstone told The Times that a CBS staffer who saw the Biden interview said he appeared 'drowsy' and that there were fears that the network cleaned up the edit to cover up his cognitive decline. AP Redstone also was worried that Trump's lawyers could 'cherry-pick raw footage and internal communications' which could do major 'damage to CBS News's reputation,' according to the Times. Those fears were also related to the Biden interview, which one CBS staffer told Redstone reportedly appeared to conceal his decline. The person told Redstone that Biden 'seemed drowsy and had to be prodded to answer' Pelley's questions, the Times reported. 'This case was never as black-and-white as people assumed,' Redstone told the outlet. Other CBS staffers who witnessed the interview and saw the raw footage told the Times that Redstone's concerns were 'overblown.' A rep for CBS News declined to comment.
The Hill
25 minutes ago
- The Hill
Newsom, Booker rally support for California redistricting on DNC call
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) appeared alongside Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin and Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier (D) as they rallied their party behind California's redistricting measure. 'Yes, we'll fight fire with fire. Yes, we will push back. It's not about whether we play hardball anymore. It's about how we play hardball,' Newsom said on the call. Newsom and California Democrats released a new set of congressional lines last week that look to offset expected gains Texas Republicans will likely make with their new House map once passed. Democrats are seeking to put their House map on the ballot before voters this November, pressing voters to allow lawmakers to redraw the map in the middle of the decade and bypass the state's independent redistricting commission. Republicans have already challenging California Democrats' ability to put the measure before voters and other top GOP leaders like former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) have also signaled they're preparing to fight the map. The appearance of Booker and Newsom together is notable given both have been floated as 2028 White House hopefuls. The two painted a picture of democracy under threat and emphasized the stakes of the redistricting battle. 'The is all hands-on deck right now. People are going to ask, 'Where did you stand when Donald Trump was violating court orders?' 'Where did you stand when he was trashing the concept of due process in our country?'' Booker said. ''Where did you stand when he was sending out masked unidentified people in unmarked vehicles to sweep people off of our streets?'' 'I'll be damned if I'm going to continue to let Donald Trump, Republicans from Texas continue to disregard, demean and degrade other Americans, to deny them their rights without a fight,' he added later. During the call, state Rep. Nicole Collier (D) was asked to leave at one point while she was participating in the call from a bathroom in the Texas Capitol, saying 'They said it's a felony for me to do this. Apparently I can't be on the floor or in a bathroom.' It's unclear what wrongdoing Collier committed. The Hill has reached out to Collier's office, the Texas House Democratic Caucus and Texas House GOP caucus for comment. Democrats on the call slammed the move. 'Rep. Collier in the bathroom has more dignity than Donald Trump in the Oval Office,' Booker said. 'That is outrageous. What they're trying to do right there, is silence an American leader, silence a Black woman and that is outrageous,' he added.
New York Post
25 minutes ago
- New York Post
JD Vance raises $4M for Republican National Committee during UK trip
WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance raked in $4 million for the Republican National Committee during his jaunt to the United Kingdom last week, adding more cash to the GOP pot ahead of next year's midterms, The Post has learned. The VP met with several RNC donors living overseas as he traveled across Britain, including stops in the Cotswolds and Scotland, according to a source familiar with the discussions. Federal rules allow Americans living or travelling abroad to contribute to political organizations and campaigns. The UK trip was the latest fundraising sojourn Vance has made since being tapped as RNC finance chair in March. Vice President JD Vance speaks during a meeting with Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House in Kent, England, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. AP The veep previously raised money in Houston, Dallas, Manhattan, Atlanta, Nashville, San Diego, Nantucket, Jackson Hole, and Big Sky, Montana. Vance's first big donor dinner was held in New York City where tickets ran as high as $250,000 per head, The Post previously reported. He then raked in $3 million at his fundraiser in Nantucket last month. Those close to the White House believe Vance's RNC post, an unprecedented position for a vice president to hold, will boost him in his near-certain bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2028. Trump told reporters Aug. 5 that Vance was the 'most likely' heir to the 45th and 47th president's Make America Great Again movement. U.S. Vice President JD Vance plays golf at Trump Turnberry golf course, during his holiday, in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, August 14, 2025. REUTERS 'Last year, President Trump won an historic election victory, taking back the White House and helping Republicans regain control of the Senate and retain control of the House,' Vance said in a statement at the time of his appointment. 'But to fully enact the MAGA mandate and President Trump's vision that voters demanded, we must keep and grow our Republican majorities in 2026.' During his visit, Vance also spoke to British officials and successfully convinced the UK to drop its demand to access personal cloud data storage, which could have impacted the privacy of American citizens. On Aug. 8, the 41-year-old went trout fishing with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in England ahead of a discussion of US-UK relations, Gaza and Ukraine.
