UPDATE 1-U.S. Senate votes for massive defense policy bill, creating Space Force

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to pass a $738 billion defense policy bill, sending it to the White House, where President Donald Trump has promised to quickly sign it into law. As voting continued, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 84 to 8 in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA. The Democratic-led House approved the bill by 377-48 last week.

Trump said on Twitter last week that he would sign the bill as soon as it passes, saying it included all his priorities. Because it is one of the few pieces of major legislation Congress passes every year, the NDAA becomes a vehicle for a range of policy measures as well as setting everything from military pay levels to which ships or aircraft will be modernized, purchased or discontinued.

This year's legislation included a 3.1% pay increase for the troops; the first-ever paid family leave for all federal workers; and the creation of a Space Force, the first new branch of the U.S. military in more than 60 years and a top military priority for Trump. The Democratic-led House and Republican-led Senate each voted for a version of the NDAA earlier this year. Then negotiators from both parties and both houses of Congress, and representatives from the White House, worked for months to reach the compromise version of the bill passed by the House last week and the Senate on Tuesday.

Despite broad bipartisan support, a few left-leaning Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans voted against the NDAA because it did not include policy planks that would have restrained Trump's war powers, including a ban on support for Saudi Arabia's air campaign in Yemen. Some also objected to the 2.8% increase in military spending, as the national debt is skyrocketing.

"Conservativism is about more than supporting military spending at any cost," Republican Senator Rand Paul said in a speech before the vote. The fiscal 2020 NDAA also does not bar the Republican president from using military funds to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.

Those provisions were included in the House's version of the NDAA, but not in the Senate's. They were removed during the negotiations. Democratic leaders said they had extracted some concessions from Republicans, including 12 weeks of paid family leave for all federal workers.

Tuesday's Senate vote meant that Congress has passed the NDAA for 59 straight years.