
House and Senate negotiators charged with writing the final version of the fiscal year 2018 defense authorization bill plan to have their first formal meeting Oct. 25.While the session will occur behind closed doors, leaders of the House-Senate conference committee are scheduled to brief reporters beforehand. The House and Senate passed their versions of the bill in July and September, respectively. Informal talks aimed at resolving differences between the two bills have already taken place.A key sticking point is that the House legislation…