What to know about the massive defense bill that seeks release of boat strike videos and more

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is expected to vote this week on a bill authorizing $900 billion for military programs, including boosting pay for service members, cutting Pentagon diversity efforts and requiring footage to be released of forces blowing up alleged drug boats.

The National Defense Authorization Act is traditionally a strong bipartisan bill that lays out the nation's defense policies. But it's coming up for a vote as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faces mounting scrutiny over the boat strikes off Venezuela's coast.

Lawmakers' concerns are apparent in the compromise bill released Sunday by the House Armed Services Committee. While it incorporates many of President Donald Trump's executive orders, the defense bill demands more accountability over the administration's campaign against Latin American drug cartels. It also reasserts a U.S. commitment to Europe following intense criticism of allies in Trump’s recently released national security strategy.

The House could vote as early as Wednesday on this year's NDAA. Here are key things to know about the bill:

Lawmakers are demanding the Pentagon hand over unedited video of strikes against drug cartels, threatening to withhold a quarter of Hegseth’s travel budget if it doesn’t.

The congressional committees overseeing the military have been pressing the Pentagon for more answers on a Sept. 2 strike following reports that U.S. forces fired on two survivors clinging to wreckage after their alleged drug-smuggling boat was attacked.

The legislation also requires the Pentagon to provide the orders behind each attack. Legal experts and some Democrats say the Sept. 2 follow-up strike violated the laws of war, despite the Trump administration's assertions that the U.S. is in an armed conflict with drug cartels.

The legislation authorizes $400 million for each of the next two years to manufacture weapons to be sent to Ukraine.

The money represents only a small part of Kyiv’s overall needs for its fight against Russia, but it is still a show of support from Congress at a time when Trump’s backing for Ukraine has been in doubt.

The bill also requires the Pentagon to provide intelligence support for Ukraine, which the Trump administration had paused for several weeks earlier this year.

Congress is trying to reaffirm its commitment to European allies and NATO — a notable stance given the posture of the Trump administration.

One provision in the defense authorization bill requires the Pentagon to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment stationed in Europe unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests.

Around 80,000 to 100,000 U.S. troops are usually present on European soil. NATO allies have expressed concern that the Trump administration might drastically cut their numbers and leave a security vacuum as European countries confront an increasingly aggressive Russia.

The Army said in late October that the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division will return to its base in Kentucky as previously planned but that no other U.S. troops would rotate into Europe to replace it.

The Trump administration says it's been reviewing its military posture in Europe and elsewhere. In a speech Saturday, Hegseth criticized previous U.S. policies that “turned American allies into dependents."

The defense bill also contains a provision to keep U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, setting the minimum requirement at 28,500.

The bill is notable for lacking a provision to expand coverage of in vitro fertilization for active duty personnel. An earlier version covered the medical procedure, known as IVF, which helps people facing infertility to build their families.

Rep. Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat, said Sunday that Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson removed her provision in the bill for military health insurance to cover IVF for American troops.

“It’s an unbelievably selfish and callous move against people who’ve served and sacrificed so much for us, especially when he and his own staff have access to health care plans that provide IVF coverage,” Jacobs said in a news release.

Johnson’s office did not respond to an email seeking comment. He praised the NDAA in a statement for delivering on “Trump’s promise of peace through strength,” while noting that it provides a nearly 4% raise for service members.

The legislation also would put an official end to the war in Iraq by repealing the authorization for the 2003 invasion.

Supporters in both the House and Senate say the repeal is crucial to prevent future abuses and to reinforce that Iraq is now a strategic partner of the U.S. Both chambers voted earlier this year to include an amendment in the 2026 defense bill revoking the 2002 war resolution.

The 2002 resolution has been rarely used in recent years. But the first Trump administration cited it as part of its legal justification for a 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani.

Congress would permanently remove the harshest U.S. sanctions left on Syria after the Trump administration has lifted many penalties.

Congress had imposed economically crippling sanctions on the country in 2019 to punish former leader Bashar Assad for human rights abuses during the nearly 14-year civil war. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is seeking to rebuild his nation’s economy after he led a successful insurgency that deposed Assad a year ago.

While the Trump administration had issued temporary waivers on the sanctions known as the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, they can only be permanently repealed by a vote in Congress.

Advocates of a permanent repeal have said international companies are unlikely to invest in projects needed for the country’s reconstruction as long as there is a threat of sanctions returning.

The bill makes $1.6 billion in cuts to climate change-related spending, the House Armed Services Committee said. The panel does not outline what would be eliminated, but the military has previously invested in hybrid electric ships and plans for adapting to a changing climate.

U.S. military assessments have long found that climate change is a threat to national security, with bases being pummeled by hurricanes or routinely flooded.

The bill also would save $40 million by repealing diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and trainings, the committee said. For example, the position of chief diversity officer would be cut.

The Trump administration has ordered climate and DEI programs cut across the federal government.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens during an event at the State Department, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

PARIS (AP) — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy described the prison where he spent 20 days as a noisy, harsh “all-grey” world of “inhuman violence" in a book released Wednesday that also offered political advice about how his conservative party should appeal to far-right voters.

In “Diary of a Prisoner,” the 70-year-old says his own tough-on-crime stance has taken on a new perspective as he recounts the uncommon turn in his life after being found guilty of criminal association in financing his winning 2007 campaign with funds from Libya.

The court sentenced him in September to five years in prison, a ruling he appealed. He was granted release under judicial supervision after 20 days behind bars.

The book provides a rare look inside Paris’ La Santé prison, where Sarkozy was held in solitary confinement and kept strictly away from other inmates for security reasons. His loneliness was broken only by regular visits from his wife, supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and his lawyers.

Sarkozy wrote that his cell looked like a “cheap hotel, except for the armored door and the bars,” with a hard mattress, a plastic-like pillow and a shower that produced only a thin stream of water. He described the “deafening noise” of the prison, much of it at night.

Opening the window on his first day behind bars, he heard an inmate who “was relentlessly striking the bars of his cell with a metal object.”

“The atmosphere was threatening. Welcome to hell!”

Sarkozy said he declined the meals served in small plastic trays along with a “mushy, soggy baguette” — their smell, he wrote, made him nauseous. Instead, he ate dairy products and cereal bars. He was allowed one hour a day in a small gym room, where he mostly used a basic treadmill.

Sarkozy says he was informed of several violent incidents that took place during his time behind bars, which he called “a nightmare.”

“The most inhumane violence was the daily reality of this place,” he wrote, raising questions about the prison system’s ability to reintegrate people once their sentences are served.

Sarkozy, known for his touch rhetoric on punishing criminals, said he promised himself that “upon my release, my comments would be more elaborate and nuanced than what I had previously expressed on all these topics.”

Beyond recounting prison life, Sarkozy used the book to offer strategic political advice for his conservative Republicans party and revealed he spoke by phone from prison with far-right leader Marine Le Pen, once a fierce rival.

Le Pen’s National Rally is “not a danger for the Republic,” he wrote. “We do not share the same ideas when it comes to economic policy, we do not share the same history … and I note that there may still be some problematic figures among them. But they represent so many French people, respect the results of the elections and participate in the functioning of our democracy.”

Sarkozy argued that the reconstruction of his weakened Republicans party “can only be achieved through the broadest possible spirit of unity.”

The Republicans party has in recent years been moving away from a position held among parties for decades that any electoral strategy must be aimed at containing the far right, even if it means losing a district to another competitor.

Still, political analyst Roland Cayrol said Sarkozy's comments came like “a thunderclap” in the decades-long position of French conservatives that the National Rally doesn't "share the same values” and “no electoral alliance is possible” with the far right.

The former president from 2007 to 2012 has been retired from active politics for years but remains very influential, especially in conservative circles.

In the wake of Sarkozy's comments, the Republicans' top officials have stopped short of calling for any actual cooperation deal with the National Rally, but instead indicated they want to focus on ways to get far-right voters to choose conservative candidates.

Sarkozy also mentioned his former friendship with centrist President Emmanuel Macron. The two men met at the Élysée presidential palace just days before Sarkozy entered prison.

According to Sarkozy, Macron raised security concerns at La Santé prison and offered to transfer him to another facility, which he declined. Instead, two police officers were assigned to the neighboring cell to protect him around the clock.

Sarkozy said he lost trust in Macron after the president did not intervene to prevent him from being stripped of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest distinction, in June.

Last month, Sarkozy was convicted of illegal campaign financing of his 2012 reelection bid, in a major blow to his legacy and reputation. He was sentenced to a year in prison, half of it suspended, which he now will be able to serve at home, monitored with an electronic bracelet or other requirements to be set by a judge.

Last year, France's top court upheld an appeals court decision that had found Sarkozy guilty of trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about legal proceedings in which he was involved.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, center, attends a Champions League opening phase soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Tottenham, in Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)