Manchin walks back bizarre comment on vote for gender-affirming care restrictions in defense bill

Senator Joe Manchin, the Senator from West Virginia, told The Independent “maybe I made a mistake” when he voted on amendments that would restrict gender-affirming care for US servicemembers and their families.

Earlier this week, the Senate Armed Services Committee released its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which would cover Fiscal Year 2025. The NDAA provides authorization to appropriate money for the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons programs and other defense-related activities.

Republicans recently have sought to include conservative policy priorities into the bill because of its must-pass nature.

Earlier this week, the Senate Armed Services Committee released its version of the bill as it prepares for a full Senate vote.

But tucked into the bill are two amendments that would restrict gender-affirming care. One amendment would “ prohibit the coverage under the TRICARE program of certain medical procedures for children that could result in sterilization.”

TRICARE is the health care program for active duty US service members, their families, members of the US National Guard and Reserves, their families, retirees and their families as well as certain former spouses who were married to US service members. Around 9.6 million people use the program.

A second one would “prohibit the performance by the Department of Defense of sex change surgeries.”

Manchin, formerly a Democrat who recently became an independent, announced last year he would not seek re-election. The senator voted with every Republican on both amendments while every Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee voted against the amendments.

But when asked about the amendments, Manchin said he did not know he did.

“I better check on that, huh? Maybe I made a mistake,” he told The Independent.

The Independent reached out to Manchin’s office for clarification.

“Senator Manchin believes that Americans who want to serve our country and can meet the standards should have the chance to do so,” a spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent. “However, taxpayer dollars should not be used to pay for any services or treatments that are associated with gender transition.”

The spokesperson did not clarify why Manchin said he might have made a mistake hours earlier.

The US Armed Forces is the largest employer of transgender people in the United States, according to the International Center for Transgender Care.

The ACLU criticized the the inclusion of the two amendments in the defense bill.

“This is a dangerous affront to the rights and freedom of transgender servicemembers with no financial, legal, political, or medical justification,” Ian Thompson, the ACLU’s senior legislative advocate, said in a statement. “These treatments serve as the foundation of the lives transgender people lead, lives that trans servicemembers have offered in service to the United States armed forces.”

Democrats have feared that gender-affirming care might be at risk under a Trump presidency, especially considering provisions listed in Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s proposed agenda for a future Republican administration.

A longtime Democrat from the conservative state of West Virginia, Manchin announced in late May that he had re-registered as an independent. But for committee purposes, he continues to caucus with the Democrats.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed its version of the NDAA last month. That legislation specifically includes an amendment to prohibit “coverage of certain gender transition procedures and related services under TRICARE program.”

“I don't think that taxpayers’ dollars should be used for surgeries that change the physical appearance,” Representative Matt Rosendale, a Republican from Montana who authored the amendment, told The Independent.

The Senate has yet to vote on their version of the NDAA. But if it were to pass, the House and Senate would go to conference to create a compromise bill. Manchin’s vote almost increases the likelihood that any final version of the defense bill includes restrictions to gender-affirming care for US servicemembers and their families.