The House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) markup will be delayed as the United States issues more guidelines to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) this week postponed the fiscal 2021 NDAA markup originally scheduled for April 30. There was no make-up date at deadline Friday, but Smith and committee Ranking Member Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said they planned to have the NDAA legislative language ready for debate by May 1, according to Politico.
The postponement follows President Donald Trump’s announcement March 29 that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was extending social distancing measures from an initial 15-day recommendation to 30 days.
Smith called the Trump administration’s extension “a prudent, necessary step.”
“Given the new 30-day extension of the Administration’s guidance, the Committee has postponed the previously scheduled markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” Smith said.
The NDAA sets spending limits and policy for the Pentagon, along with the Department of Energy’s nuclear security activities.
Meanwhile, senior Department of Energy and Pentagon officials were scheduled to participate in a so-called paper hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee next week.
The paper hearing is set for Thursday and will include: Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette; Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, administration of the National Nuclear Security Administration; Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and logistics, and head of the joint DOE-DOD Nuclear Weapons Council; and Adm. Charles Richard, commander of U.S. Strategic Command.
In paper hearings, nobody shows up to the same room. Participants answer written questions from lawmalers, sometimes weeks after the hearing date.
On the check-cutting side of Congress, the Senate Armed Services Committee had been planning to schedule a markup before Memorial Day and is still working toward that date, panel spokeswoman Marta Hernandez said this week. Hernandez said the situation remains fluid and the committee will respect guidance from the CDC, Office of Attending Physician, and the Senate Majority Leader’s office.
Gordon-Hagerty had been scheduled for a hearing with the Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee this week, but COVID-19 nixed that event, too.
The House Armed Services Committee announced late last week that Smith and Thornberry had introduced H.R. 6395, the “by request” version of the 2021 NDAA and the traditional first step in the legislative process for the annual defense authorization bill.
“The legislation filed this week does not reflect substantive work by the Armed Services Committee. Rather, provisions contained in the bill reflect legislative proposals submitted by the Department of Defense,” the committee said in a March 27 statement. “When the Committee meets to consider the FY21 NDAA, the content of H.R. 6395 will be struck and replaced with subcommittee and full committee proposals.”
Access to Capitol Hill has been limited to members, staffers, credentialed press, and “official business visitors,” the House and Senate sergeants at arms said in a March 30 statement. The temporary restrictions will continue through at least May 1.
Additionally, the governors of Virginia and Maryland each issued “shelter-in-place” orders for non-essential personnel, with Virginia’s order extending through June 10 unless otherwise amended or rescinded.
This story first appeared in Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily.
