WASHINGTON \u2014 Congressional negotiators believe they are days away from wrapping up conference committee work on the annual defense authorization bill, putting the measure on track to pass before the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lawmakers have passed some form of the legislation for more than five decades. At the state of negotiations two weeks ago, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., said he saw no reason to believe that streak would end this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Major issues in the separate House and Senate drafts of the budget legislation include the creation of a new Space Corps within the ranks, the annual military pay raise, and department leadership reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once the conference work finishes, the next challenge will be getting the compromise bill before the separate chambers for a vote. Lawmakers are already debating the new Republican tax reform plan and working on a full fiscal 2018 appropriations measure, which faces a looming December deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTuesday, Nov. 6<\/strong> Defense and veterans hearings on Capitol Hill for the week of Nov. 6.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":35946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,36,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3424],"class_list":["post-24545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"RIHE2HV66BGFHGHWRNAW2KR46I","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/11\/06\/this-week-in-congress-ndaa-conference-work-continues\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n
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\nHouse Foreign Affairs \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Rayburn 2172
\nMiddle East <\/i>
\nThe subcommittee on the Middle East will hear from outside experts on democracy and governance issues in the Middle East and North Africa.
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\nHouse Foreign Affairs \u2014 2 p.m. \u2014 Rayburn 2172
\nRussia<\/i>
\nThe subcommittee on terrorism will hear from outside experts on Russian involvement with counterterrorism operations across the globe.
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\nWednesday, Nov. 7<\/strong>
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\nHouse Government Reform \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Rayburn 2167
\nJerusalem<\/i>
\nThe subcommittee on national security will hear from outside experts on the ramifications of moving the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
\n
\nHouse Foreign Affairs \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Rayburn 2172
\nAfghanistan<\/i>
\nState Department officials will testify on the administration\u2019s new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
\n
\nSenate Homeland Security \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Dirksen 342
\nNominations<\/i>
\nThe committee will consider the nomination of Kirstjen Nielsen to be Secretary of Homeland Security.
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\nHouse Veterans\u2019 Affairs \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Cannon 334
\nPending legislation<\/i>
\nThe committee will mark up a series of pending bills.
\n
\nHouse Veterans\u2019 Affairs \u2014 2 p.m. \u2014 Cannon 334
\nTransition assistance<\/i>
\nThe committee will review the Interagency Transition Assistance Program and metrics for its success.
\n
\nThursday, Nov. 8<\/strong>
\n
\nHouse Armed Services \u2014 10:30 a.m. \u2014 Rayburn 2212
\nAviation readiness<\/i>
\nAviation officials from the four armed services will testify before the committee on looming challenges and strategy updates.
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