As the House and Senate continue to work towards taking up the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), this morning, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said ongoing talks are creating a “grab bag of miscellaneous pet priorities” and he called on Democratic leaders to cut the controversial provisions from the defense bill to give it a better chance of passing Congress before the end of the year. McConnell poured cold water on Democratic efforts to add language allowing banks to do business with state-approved marijuana businesses and permitting reform, a priority of Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), to the annual defense authorization bill, among other items. Another obstacle to getting a bipartisan deal on the defense bill is the demand by Republican lawmakers in both chambers to add language to end the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The White House opposes using the annual defense spending bill to repeal a vaccine mandate for military service members, national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Monday. President Joe Biden is in agreement with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that the mandate should remain in place, Kirby said. Republican lawmakers have threatened to delay until next year passage of the defense authorization bill if the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which was instituted last year, is not rescinded. The House is expected to take up the NDAA this week, and the Senate could act on it, if it is passed by the House, but that vote is likely to be pushed into the following week.
Democratic staffs continue to work on their version of a “Republican friendly” omnibus that would notionally be ready for review a week from yesterday. Without a formal breakthrough this week, the chance of a yearlong Continuing Resolution certainly grows. Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) met with Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) late last week and reportedly made a $1.65T proposal while reiterating Republicans will not support any increase in discretionary spending beyond the $1.7T proposed by President Biden in his budget. Republicans claim no increase is needed because of the domestic spending included in the Inflation Reduction Act. Senate Democrats are advocating for an additional $26B on the non-defense side that is included in existing appropriations bills prepared by the two Committees on Appropriations. Senate Republicans are hopeful to get an Omnibus passed because they are reportedly skeptical about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-California) ability to unify his conference next year. McCarthy hasn’t yet locked down the votes he needs to be elected Speaker, and there are growing questions about whether he will even lead the House GOP conference next year. That concern has Republican senators pushing to pass a year-end spending package, including an increase in spending for defense and military assistance for Ukraine. With a narrow majority in 2023, McCarthy’s struggles in lining up 218 votes to become Speaker have underscored the challenges he will face passing spending bills or any other major pieces of legislation next year. Senate Republicans say McCarthy will likely have to rely on Democratic votes to pass spending bills next year to make up for defections within his own conference, which will undercut his negotiating leverage and spark fights with the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
For today, the Senate convened at 10:00 A.M. and is expected to vote on cloture and confirmation of the nomination of Frances Kay Behm to be US District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan and the nomination of Kelley Brisbon Hodge to be US District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The Senate is expected to continue processing through nominations tomorrow with at least seven judicial nominations on which cloture has been filed.
The House met at 9:00 A.M. and is considering H.R. 7946 – Veteran Service Recognition Act of 2022 as well as eleven postponed votes under suspension of the Rules. House activities will be suspended Wednesday morning for members to attend the funeral of Representative Donald McEachin (D-Virginia), who died last week, in Richmond.
