McConnell: Senate to vote on defense policy bill next week

By Tony Bertuca / December 12, 2019 at 1:19 PM

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said today the Senate will vote next week on the fiscal year 2020 defense authorization bill.

The House passed the bill Wednesday in a 377-48 vote.

Marta Hernandez, a spokeswoman for the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the vote is expected "early next week."

President Trump has said he will sign the 3,000-page bill that, among a host of other things, authorizes $738 billion for defense spending and established a new U.S. Space Force.

Lawmakers, however, will also have to deal with the stalled appropriations process next week, despite being at odds over how to address Trump's use of military funds for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The federal government is now funded through Dec. 20 under a stopgap continuing resolution. If a deal is not reached, the CR will have to be extended again or the federal government will shut down.

The wall issue had been part of the FY-20 defense authorization bill, but lawmakers opted to punt the controversy to congressional appropriators in the interests of passing the military policy bill for the 59th consecutive year.

205792