A 14.5% pay raise for junior military personnel is on its way to President Joe Biden’s desk for signing after the Senate approved the annual defense policy bill on Wednesday.

The Senate voted 85-14 to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), easily completing the sweeping legislation despite pleas from advocates and some Democrats to remove language that would limit some of the health care coverage for transgender children military personnel would be banned.

Under the law, troops in ranks E-1 to E-4 will receive a 14.5% pay raise next year, while all other military personnel will receive a 4.5% raise.

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The 4.5% increase will be applied to all military personnel’s paychecks in early January, while the remaining 10% supplement for junior soldiers will take effect in April.

At the urging of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., a provision was added to the NDAA during bicameral negotiations that prohibits Tricare from covering “medical procedures to treat gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization” for beneficiaries under 18 .

The language in the NDAA, while ambiguous, could mean transgender military children lose access to hormone therapy and puberty-suppressing drugs, LGBTQ+ advocates warn.

In the House, most Democrats voted against the NDAA because of the transgender provision. But in the Senate, where Democrats have the majority, they claimed the NDAA was too important to jeopardize passage of legislation on the issue, even though they said they opposed restricting gender-affirming health care.

“If you’re a military member, you’re going to find a lot to like about this bill,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters on a conference call when Military.com asked him what he would say about military members who are parents of transgender children are. “Salary increases and other quality of life and health care issues. Parents of a transgender child, single, married and no children – you will see things in this bill that are very, very positive for you.”

Kaine also argued that the provision is “pretty narrow” because it does not restrict mental health care for transgender children or health care for transgender service providers.

Two dozen Senate Democrats filed an amendment this week seeking to remove language about transgender children from the bill, but that amendment did not receive a vote.

Advocates are now pushing for Biden to veto the bill over that provision, but the White House has given no indication he will do so.

“If we don’t fight with all the strength of our hearts, souls and strength, how will we look at our children and tell them that they must suffer in the name of political games?” Lindsay Church, executive director of Minority Veterans of America and non-binary Marine veteran said at a news conference outside the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon. “As we stand here, we also call on President Biden to veto this bill should it reach his desk. We ask him to stand on the right side of history and we ask him to stand with us.”

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