The House and Senate armed services committees reached an agreement on writing a new defense authorization bill that should get a vote in the House this week and the Senate next week, a move leaders say is not ideal but the only way to pass a bill by the end of the year.
The full House passed its bill in June, but the Senate’s work on the bill broke down the week before Thanksgiving after partisan arguments related to amendments and filibuster procedures. With the House set to leave Friday for the rest of the year, both committees’ leadership agreed a new bill is the only way to go..jpg)
House and Senate committee staff melded the two bills, along with language from 79 amendments the Senate was not able to consider on the floor.
HASC Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said the final product is a full, comprehensive bill, not a slimmed down version that some feared Congress would pass. He said the bill would be introduced to the House in the “next couple days,” and though he said he expected the majority of the House would do the right thing and pass the defense compromise bill–-with no additional amendments in the House or Senate–he has yet to receive any assurances from House leadership that they’ll support the bill. McKeon said he spoke to Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) or Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), but neither was willing to assure him he’d get a vote until they spoke to each other, McKeon told reporters Monday evening.
SASC Ranking Member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said the bill was a must-pass by Dec. 31 because of several authorities that would expire–some being special pays, such as combat pay and reenlistment incentives, and others being construction authorities. If the bill does not pass by the end of the year, Inhofe said construction of the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) would halt.
Inhofe added that he has no promises yet that Senate Republicans will vote for the bill, after many opposed it before Thanksgiving, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not made it back to Washington yet due to inclement weather, so the two have not spoken in person about the bill. But Inhofe said he sees a shift in attitude about the defense bill–whereas before some were opposed to the process in which the bill was being handled, which limited debate and amendments, he said now it’s simply a matter of the bill being passed or not.
SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said he would speak to the full SASC Monday night and the Democratic caucus Tuesday morning to gain support for his bill and ensure that, if the House can pass it this week, the Senate will follow suit next week.