Both the Senate and House have passed motions to go to conference on the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) through a committee that will work to reconcile the two chambers’ versions of the bill. A Senate aide said Thursday conference has begun, though lawmakers this week also began a seven-week summer recess.
The Senate voted 90-7 on Thursday to go to conference, while the House voted to do so on July 8. The House passed its version of the NDAA in May, and the Senate in June. The White House has already threatened to veto both bills.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday appointed the 26 members of the Senate Armed Services Committee as conferees.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) last Friday named 31 members of the House Armed Services Committee to serve as conferees. Those 18 Republican and 13 Democrats include Representatives Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), Randy Forbes (R-Va.), Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), and Rob Bishop (R-Utah), among others.
Other House members were also named to serve on the conference committee, including Representatives Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.).
The House NDAA would authorize $13.3 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), including $9.6 billion for weapons activities and $1.9 billion for defense nuclear nonproliferation. The Senate legislation would authorize $12.9 billion for the agency, including $9.2 billion for weapons activities and $1.9 billion for defense nuclear nonproliferation.
The Senate energy and water appropriations bill passed in May provides $12.9 billion for the NNSA, including $9.3 billion for weapons activities and $1.8 billion for defense nuclear nonproliferation – the same overall level of funding as in the House version of the legislation.
The Senate bill authorizes a total of $602 billion for national defense, while the House version authorizes $610.5 billion. Differences between the bills involve defense acquisition and organizational structure reform provisions, as well as disagreement over the number of Russian-made rocket engines the Air Force may use, among other provisions.
A difference of $18 billion in NDAA-authorized funding is expected to be the greatest obstacle in the House-Senate negotiations. The Senate rejected two proposed amendments to its bill that would have increased both defense and non-defense spending by $18 billion, while the House included the additional $18 billion in funding for base budget requirements.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) led the push for one of the failed amendments, which would increase defense spending by $18 billion. Democrats offered their own amendment in turn that would provide the same level of funding for domestic issues, including infrastructure and cybersecurity.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter sent a letter Thursday to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees objecting to a number of provisions in both chambers’ NDAAs, particularly the House bill’s shift of the $18 billion from the warfighting budget into the base budget. Carter also objected to a provision in the House bill that would block funding for the extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty unless military and intelligence officials report on developments in Russian military capabilities and nuclear doctrine – which the letter called “onerous and duplicative reporting.”
The White House has also threatened vetoes of both bills, which direct the NNSA to continue building the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina to convert surplus weapon-usable plutonium into commercial fuel. President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2017 budget proposes to stop work on the plant in favor of an alternative plutonium dilution and disposal method.
