House and Senate enter conference committee on defense policy bill

By Tony Bertuca / October 25, 2017 at 4:02 PM

The "big four" leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees formally began negotiations Wednesday on the fiscal year 2018 defense authorization bill, pledging to work collaboratively to provide the military with increased resources amid fiscal gridlock in Congress.

Both the House and Senate versions of the bill have established funding toplines well above the $549 billion limit mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ), who is co-chairing a conference committee on the bill with his House counterpart Mac Thornberry (R-TX), told reporters Wednesday a final topline is open to negotiation, but added he will be angling for approximately $640 billion in total defense spending.

The funding level in the bill will ultimately need to be adjusted to a final BCA compromise that Republicans and Democrats are not expected to craft until December, when a stopgap continuing resolution expires.

McCain argued a recent spate of military mishaps could be attributed to fiscal constraints.

"We have to lift these budget caps," McCain said. "It all is cycle. The planes aren't flying because they've haven't got parts. The pilots aren't flying enough because the planes aren't flying. We have too few ships, so they're spending longer at sea. It's been building up for a long time. The responsibility to a large degree lies with the Congress of the United States in not providing sufficient funds for them."

Thornberry told reporters he was encouraged to see the House and Senate versions of the bill pass with bipartisan support.

"The House-passed bill passed with 79 percent of the House members voting for it," he said. "The Senate bill passed with 89 percent of the senators voting for it. There is a widespread consensus that we need to do better for our military. I am optimistic that we can deliver better in a pretty short amount of time given the similarities between the House and Senate."

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, said the defense authorization bill needs to pass, but also must be accompanied by a timely appropriations bill.

"We cannot live off of a continuing resolution," he said. "It is critical we get this process done."

Democrats, however, have pledged to seek increases for non-defense spending to match any boost in defense funds, a move at which Republicans have balked in the past.

The House and Senate defense authorization bills, meanwhile, have several differences, the most high-profile being the House's support for the creation of a new Space Corps amid objections from the Senate and the Pentagon.

Asked how the Space Corps debate might turn out, McCain said jokingly: "Always however I want it."

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