On December 19, 2009, President Obama signed the FY 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3326) into law. The bill, which passed the Senate 88-10 on December 19, 2009, was nearly held up by a strategic Republican filibuster the previous day, achieving cloture by only four votes (63-33). The filibuster was aimed at stalling the progress of Democratic-sponsored health reform legislation concurrently under consideration in the Senate. The House of Representatives had previously approved the FY 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill on September 16 by a 395-34 vote.

The bill includes provisions to extend unemployment and COBRA benefits and also prohibits Defense Department contractors and subcontractors from requiring their employees and independent contractors to agree to arbitrate certain claims. Those provisions are discussed in greater detail in the Washington Labor & Employment Wire’s previous post on the House’s passing of this legislation.

The FY 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill is Public Law No: 111-118.