The American legislative chambers cannot handle too much at a time….
The Biden ‘Build Back Better’ is now on the Senate’s plate….
It’s actually more than twice the size of the National Defense Authorization Act’s $768 price tag….
The delay and a subsequent rush to come in before the end of the year is earning Democratic Senate Majority leader Schumer complaints …
Why?
Because Senator’s have less time to drop their own amendments into the massive bill which buys their vote….
Pushing back votes on the defense bill further narrows the window for leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees to iron out a compromise and send it to President Joe Biden’s desk before the end of the year.
“Democrats have been working in good faith for several days, actually for several months really, to pass this defense legislation,” Schumer lamented on the floor late Thursday. “Members on both sides want to get this done, so these delays are unfortunate. There is no good reason to keep delaying. We should move the process forward.”
After days of wrangling over what amendments would receive votes or be included in a bipartisan manager’s package, Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) sought to secure votes Thursday evening on 19 amendments from Democrats and Republicans.
But seven Republicans took turns blocking votes because their amendments weren’t included — some with little connection to defense policy….
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Democratic and Republican leaders will need to work out the dispute after the Thanksgiving recess. Any one senator can object to votes or speeding up the process on the floor, so it’s possible no senators may get votes on their amendments if the impasse isn’t resolved….
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…a wide array of policy proposals were scuttled by the dust-up, including amendments to slash the defense budget, rein in presidential war powers and defang parts of the coronavirus vaccine mandate….
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Senate leaders were also primed to grant Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) a vote on his amendment to remove a provision in the defense bill that would require women to register for a military draft. The expansion was included in the House-passed defense bill and would almost certainly become law if it survives the Senate….
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Now time is running short for the House and Senate to hammer out a compromise version of the defense bill, which has become law every year for six decades.
For members of both parties, it’s proof positive that Schumer — who has largely avoided putting large bills on the floor while the Senate waited on the House to pass Biden’s and Democrats’ marquee $1.75 trillion social spending package — should have allowed the defense debate far earlier…
image…ABC News
Then there is this…..
For the fourth year in a row, the Defense Department failed its annual financial audit, but demonstrated it’s making progress.
On Monday, the Defense Department completed its annual audit required by the 1990 Chief Financial Officers Act for the fourth time. The department’s inspector general and independent public accounting firms conducted the fiscal 2021 audit, which covered the department’s more than $3.2 trillion in assets and $3 trillion in liabilities. About 1,200 auditors did 278 in-person and 1,069 virtual site visits….
More…
More pressure on Democrats to get the Defense Bill done….
THAT pressure means they will HAVE to make more deals with Republicans to get the 69 votes needed in the Senate…
U.S. allies expressed concerns to senators this weekend that Congress could break a 60-year streak and fail to pass an annual defense policy bill before the end of the year, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers said on Saturday.
The extraordinary dynamic comes as the Senate is at a standstill on the legislation. Several Republicans have delayed the process as they push for votes on their amendments to the bill, and Democratic leaders didn’t begin the floor process for the bill until this week — far later than in past years.
A bipartisan group of senators attending the Halifax International Security Forum promised that the Senate would approve the legislation in time as it usually does. But they all answered affirmatively when asked if their foreign counterparts were concerned that lawmakers wouldn’t finish before year’s end….
More…
(Besides the security part of the bill for other ours and other countries…The Bill is also a “job’s bIll here and abroad)