The head of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) said Tuesday he is optimistic his panel’s version of the next defense authorization bill will receive bipartisan support. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) predicted differences with the Senate on several key provisions, such as a new Indo-Pacific initiative, can be reconciled when the bill heads to conference.
Smith told reporters HASC’s markup hearing for the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act will likely be less contentious than last year without having to resolve differences on the top-line, border wall funding, and debate over low-yield nuclear warhead provisions.
“I am always optimistic. It’s just my nature,” Smith said. “We fought [those issues] and we’ve resolved most of those issues, so I think there’s a greater possibility of getting a bipartisan bill.”
The committee is set to mark up its version of the NDAA starting at 10 a.m. today, while the Senate voted Monday evening to invoke cloture and formally begin debate on its bill. That proceeding resumed this morning.
Smith noted the bipartisan budget agreement has settled debate on the top-line, with this year’s bill arriving at $741 billion, though the HASC chairman did note progressive Democrats have opened the conversation on addressing future defense funding toplines.
“I do understand and respect that progressives want to see that number cut. That’s a conversation we will have in the future, but for this year [$741 billion] is the number that we’re marking to,” Smith said.
The House NDAA would authorize the full $20 billion budget request for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. It would also allow $700 million more than the $5 billion the Trump administration requested for defense nuclear cleanup, the primary funding stream for remediation of nuclear-weapon sites overseen by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee and co-chair of the Policy and Steering Committee, has introduced a bill June that would cut the annual defense budget by up to $350 billion.
On the low-yield nuclear warhead program, Smith added, “that battle has been lost and that system has gone forward” after the Senate prevailed in including authorizing funding out of last year’s conference.
