Senate passes defense spending bill in bipartisan vote after partisan fights

The Senate has approved the annual must-pass National Defense Authorization Act after a contentious couple of weeks.

Lawmakers from the upper chamber voted 86 to 11 in favor of passing the bill that authorizes U.S. national defense spending for fiscal 2024 to $886 billion, easily exceeding the required 60 votes for passage. The Senate largely avoided partisan fights that dominated the House's process, setting up a contentious battle between the two chambers as they need to come up with a compromise that will ultimately head to President Joe Biden's desk.

The top-line number is in line with...