The chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services committees were emphatic Wednesday that a deal on a bicameral fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act could be reached by early next week, despite a number of issues remaining up for debate.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) sets policy and authorizes appropriations for active nuclear-weapon programs managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and for much of the Energy Department’s remediation of its nuclear-weapon sites.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) told reporters Wednesday on Capitol Hill that “I really believe we’re going to have a resolution to this thing Friday or Monday,” adding that lawmakers are up against tough deadlines with only seven legislative days left in calendar year 2019.
Inhofe declined to provide details on where negotiations stand, but emphasized that progress is being made, “enough to get this through.”
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) agreed that conferees are making progress.
“I remain cautiously optimistic that we will be able to get something done this week or next,” he told reporters. “We’re not quite there yet, but I’m confident that we will be able to get there.”
Fiscal 2020 began on Oct. 1. Along with the stretched-out NDAA talks, Congress has yet to pass any bicameral appropriations bills. The federal government is now operating under its second short-term spending bill of the budget year – a continuing resolution scheduled to expire Dec. 20.
Smith said a House on the NDAA is possible. However, the sticking points remain the same ones that have plagued conference talks for months, Smith noted. They include decisions to be made regarding President Donald Trump’s requested funds for a U.S.-Mexico border wall, as well as his desire to stand up a Space Force within the U.S. Air Force.
“The wall and Space Force … those issues make it difficult on our side,” Smith said, referring to House Democrats in negotiations. “But I think we’re closing in.”
“I made about 15 phone calls yesterday to make sure that absolutely everybody who needed to be aware of it [the deadline] is in fact aware of it, and that is occasionally an expanding list,” Smith said. “All the key people know what’s going on.”
This story first appeared in Weapons Complex Morning Briefing affiliate publication Defense Daily.
