WASHINGTON \u2014 House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry’s first try at passing a Pentagon policy bill faces a major challenge: Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s whip operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Texas Republican, since taking the committee gavel in January, has talked about the bipartisan tradition behind the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). But Republican hawks’ insistence that leadership inflate the Pentagon’s war account by nearly $40 billion has riled Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday, Pelosi called the move “disingenuous,” adding it takes a “narrow” view of how to best fund national security. The latter echoes comments made last week on Capitol Hill by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said GOP leaders are using the war fund “as a virtual slush fund.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pelosi said House Democrats support raising defense spending caps, but also domestic spending limits. Republicans oppose the latter, so Pelosi and other House Democrats, including Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith of Washington, are opposing the defense authorization measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
House aides say Pelosi is whipping Democratic members to vote no on final passage of the NDAA on Friday, though she did not mention that during her weekly press conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, spoke to reporters moments later from the same podium, accusing Democrats of opposing American forces if they vote against the NDAA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This shouldn’t be a tough vote,” Boehner said. “Democrats are now saying they support our troops before they opposed them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pelosi is a notoriously good vote-counter and persuader, meaning Thornberry must keep his GOP ranks in line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There currently are 433 House members, meaning Thornberry and GOP leaders need 217 votes to pass the NDAA. If every Democrat sides with Pelosi and Smith, Republicans would have enough of their votes to pass the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But a block of conservative spending hawks agree with Smith and Democrats like Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. Thornberry and GOP leaders can only lose between 25 and 30 of those members to still pass the bill with no Democratic votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HASC spokesman Claude Chafin told CongressWatch that “Chairman Thornberry is bringing a good bipartisan bill to the floor, and he continues to expect a good bipartisan vote.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 1:32 p.m. EDT.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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