If passed, the NDAA would repeal the 2019 Caesar Act, which sanctioned the Syrian government for war crimes during the country's 13-year-long civil war. It would also require the White House to issue frequent reports confirming that Syria's new government is combating Islamist fighters and upholding the rights of religious and ethnic minorities. Human rights advocates have welcomed the easing of heavy sanctions that the US and other Western countries imposed on Syria during the war.
Typically, NDAA bills are finalized by the end of the calendar year, and the text of the legislation was anticipated to be finalized by Thursday. It the House in a 231-196 vote in September (only 17 Democrats agreed to pass it), Politico that Republican leaders were still trying to tie up some loose ends-such as barely passed though and the Senate passed it with more bipartisan ease during the shutdown in October in a 77-20 vote.