Members of the House will spend several hours Thursday debating a slew of controversial amendments to the National Defense Authorization act (NDAA) of 2013, including provisions related to detainee policy, same-sex marriage on military bases, and potential military action in Iran.

The House prepared for Thursday votes by finishing general debate late Wednesday night, which offered hints that Thursday's work on amendments will slog through these and other issues. Scores of amendments are likely to be made in order for Thursday consideration, as more than 200 were proposed by members.

The topline: Thursday’s House floor debate on the Defense authorization bill is all about amendments. And more amendments. And then some more.

House members submitted more than 240 amendments for the Defense authorization bill that’s being debated on the House floor this week. The House Rules Committee was expected to decide later Wednesday evening how many amendments would go to the floor for a vote, which one House GOP aide said would be “lots.”

Two of the biggest debates will be on Afghanistan and indefinite detention, with multiple amendments expected on each issue. There were 13 amendments submitted that discussed Afghanistan, as a group of anti-war lawmakers planned to make a concerted effort to debate a speedier withdrawal. On detention, House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) is pushing an amendment with Republican Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.) to bar military detention for terror suspects captured on U.S. soil.

The report from Sen. Dianne Feinstein's committee is likely to revive the debate over whether the techniques amount to torture.

President Obama posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to U.S. Army Specialist Leslie H. Sabo Jr., Wednesday, May 16, at 3:10 p.m., four decades after his death during the Vietnam War.

Ron Paul (R-Texas) was back to work on Capitol Hill Wednesday speaking out on the defense authorization bill, taking positions that often left him alienated from mainstream Republicans.

Paul appeared at two press conferences on the defense bill, which is being debated in the House Wednesday: one with anti-war lawmakers calling for a speedier withdrawal and another to ban indefinite detention for terror suspects captured on U.S. soil.

One House Democrat is looking to codify a ban on the Pentagon from buying weapons from Russian arms dealers who also supply weapons to Syria. 

Iran has installed 20 new centrifuges into its underground nuclear plant near Tehran days before key negotiations over the country's nuclear program are slated to begin this month.  

Robert Gates, who was defense secretary when President Obama ordered the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, said the decision to deploy Navy SEALs to kill bin Laden was a risky decision and a “courageous” call.

Gates said in an interview with host Charlie Rose on “CBS This Morning” Wednesday that he preferred using a missile attack to take out bin Laden's compound, which he described as “the least risky way to take him out.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is pressing the Pentagon on whether a plan to overhaul its entire fleet of F-22 Raptors will harm ongoing Air Force operations around the world.