WASHINGTON \u2014 The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman said his team is readying a \u201cskeleton\u201d version of the 2020 defense policy bill to ensure troops are paid in the event he and his House counterpart can\u2019t resolve their partisan differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After negotiations between the House and Senate were pushed back a week, potentially thwarting plans for speedy passage of the massive 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., said he has a backup plan if talks run aground before the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a fear by some people that it might not work out, so we\u2019d be looking at what some people refer to as a the \u2018skeleton bill,\u2019 \u201d Inhofe said, calling the move \u201ca last resort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s no set rules for what would go into a bare bones NDAA, but sources knowledgeable with the process agree it would at least have to include special payments and bonuses for service members, which Inhofe confirmed. \u201cWe could pass a bill that only had the necessary things in it, that it pays the kids. There\u2019s a list of things that have to be done,\u201d Inhofe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leaders in the House and Senate Armed Services committees planned to dive into the conference process for reconciling the massive bills, which diverge on a number of key issues, reflecting the partisan divide between the chambers. But a few technical issues bumped those plans into this week \u2014 \u201ca kind of a shock treatment,\u201d Inhofe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year\u2019s House-passed bill contained limits on the president\u2019s power to wage war on Iran, restrictions on the nuclear arsenal, limits on military activities along the southern border and a ban on new detainees at Guantanamo Bay \u2014 issues important to House Democrats that will likely complicate passage in the Republican-controlled Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe just want to make sure we have a bill,\u201d Inhofe said. \u201cThe House has a bill; it\u2019s a nonstarter. They know that. We know that. It\u2019ll never get anywhere in the Senate, and it would of course get vetoed [by the president].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NDAA, which authorizes defense spending, holds a 58-year streak of successful passage into law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a meeting Wednesday of the \u201cbig four\u201d leaders of the Armed Services committees \u2014 Inhofe; SASC ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I.; House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash.; and HASC ranking member Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inhofe was not the only one with a backup plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOf course you think of a backup to the backup to the backup,\u201d Thornberry said. \u201cObviously there are authorities that have to be enacted this year, some special pays and other things. I think everybody\u2019s conscious of that, and hopefully it won\u2019t come to that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Reed, the bill contains a host of other authorizations that are necessary, beyond pay alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also important to make sure they have the platforms, support and training they need, which all requires an NDAA that\u2019s substantial,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This wouldn\u2019t be the first time a bare bones authorization bill was considered, said Arnold Punaro, a former Senate Armed Services Committee staff director and retired Marine Corps three-star general. Still, the committees always have a way of working it out, even when Congress is divided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey always figure out a way to get the bill done; I don\u2019t tend to panic, especially since many of these issues are perennial,\u201d Punaro said. \u201cWe dealt with some big issues with nuclear weapons in the 1980s and 1990s.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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