The must-pass defense policy legislation hit a new impasse in the Senate on Monday night as Republicans blocked the bill from advancing, with no clear path to resolving a partisan dispute over amendment votes. An effort to cut off debate on the Senate version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) resulted in a 45-51 vote, well short of the 60 votes needed to move the legislation forward. Ahead of Monday’s procedural vote, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) vowed to oppose advancing the bill further without progress on amendments, citing Republican calls for votes on measures such as sanctions over Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany. All Republicans except Maine Senator Susan Collins voted to filibuster the measure. A handful of Democrats opposed advancing the legislation, while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) voted no in order to bring up a procedural motion to reconsider the vote at a later time. The failed vote means senators will need to work out their dispute to advance the defense bill, though it’s not immediately clear what that compromise might be. It will also consume much floor time during a week in which Congress also needs to clear another government funding patch to avoid a shutdown at midnight on Friday.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) is engaged in negotiations with Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) and their counterparts in the House with a goal of unveiling a stopgap spending measure by Wednesday. The short-term funding measure, which would last until January 21st or January 28th, will likely pass relatively easily by the end of the week. Reports say the resolution will be lean and have a limited number of added measures, such as emergency funding to help resettle Afghan refugees. There’s disagreement over how long the continuing resolution should last, as Republicans are pushing for more time next year into the spring to hammer out the details of the 12 annual appropriations bills. The tougher challenge will be to find a way to raise the debt limit by the December 15th deadline set by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Leader Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell held a short meeting before the Thanksgiving recess about finding a way forward on the issue, but they have shared few details about what they discussed. Neither Schumer nor McConnell touched on the looming debt limit impasse when they spoke on the Senate floor Monday to set up the week ahead. Reports say that Schumer and McConnell are continuing to work on a deal that would allow Democrats to raise the debt ceiling without any Republican votes.
For today, the Senate is in session with discussions ongoing with respect to a path forward on NDAA with roll call votes possible. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell start two days of congressional oversight hearings related to economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic before the Senate Banking Committee at 10 A.M. The pair will appear before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. Yellen Testimony. Powell Testimony.
The House will reconvene at 2:00 P.M. with votes at 6:30 P.M. and will consider up to eleven bills from the Energy and Commerce Committee under suspension of the Rules including H.R. 4045 – FUTURE Networks Act. Of note, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) released the 2022 House Floor Schedule which is available here.
