The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the Senate today in a 70-27 vote, enough to override the presidential veto that could be forthcoming.
President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the NDAA over a $38 billion increase to wartime spending that allows defense to be funded at higher levels than would be permitted under the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011. While Obama and congressional Democrats support the higher funding for defense, they also want to raise the BCA caps for other discretionary spending.
After the vote, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said that if Obama vetoes the NDAA, there is no guarantee that the compensation and acquisition reform proposals in the bill would become law.
In the conference report, there is language that would adjust the authorization levels if a grand bargain budget deal is passed later this year, noted Thornberry. “We’re not locking the president or anybody else into anything.”
Yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) indicated that even if Democrats vote in favor of the NDAA, they will reverse their votes to sustain a presidential veto (Defense Daily, Oct. 6)
The House voted 270-156 to pass the NDAA conference report last week, but Republicans fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.