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The US  House approved a wide-ranging bipartisan defense policy bill Thursday despite strong opposition from a conservative wing of the Republican Party, NBC news reported. 

The House voted 316-113 in favor of the $768 billion defense measure after lawmakers spent hours debating hundreds of amendments. The bill, which guides Pentagon policy and would cover the fiscal year 2022, is about 5 percent more than the previous year’s bill. Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., the committee's ranking member, introduced the Senate's version of the bill Wednesday.

The bill, which is reauthorized annually, typically passes with broad bipartisan support. But a day before the bill’s passage, the House Freedom Caucus urged the Republican Party to oppose the measure because of an amendment that would allow the registration of women for the Selective Service System, which was approved with bipartisan support while the bill was in committee.