Senior members of the House and Senate Armed Services committees will meet Wednesday for a "pass the gavel" ceremony that formally begins bicameral negotiations on the annual defense authorization bill that will likely lead to clashes over key Pentagon policies and programs. Despite being aligned around $886 billion in total defense funding for fiscal year 2024, both chambers have passed distinctly different bills, with the key difference being measures championed by the House Freedom Caucus targeting diversity initiatives, climate change...
