The House on Wednesday advanced the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), teeing it up for a final vote after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) managed to win over several holdouts in a dramatic vote.

The vote on the rule, which sets up debate and final passage of the bill, was held open for more than an hour, with five Republicans voting “no” and a number of moderates not casting a vote at all. The opposition would have been enough to sink the bill.

Johnson huddled on the floor with opponents including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Thomas Massie (Ky.) and with moderates who hadn’t yet voted like Reps. Mike Lawler (N.Y.), Nick LaLota (N.Y.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) and Rob Bresnahan (Pa.).

He was able to flip Reps. Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.) and Greene, and the bill advanced 215-211.

The NDAA would increase pay for service members, provide some military aid to Ukraine, restrict U.S. investment in China and fully repeal sanctions on Syria, among other things.

Several hard-line conservatives and fiscal hawks had grumbled about the bill prior to the rule vote. The NDAA has a topline of about $8 billion more than the $892.6 billion that President Trump had requested in May. It also doesn’t include a provision that would prevent the creation of central bank digital currency.

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