Senate clears key procedural hurdle to advance defense bill after Schumer and Pelosi strike deal on China competition bill
The procedural vote on the bill passed by a broad bipartisan margin of 84-15.
Senate Republicans took action on the defense bill, annoyed that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wanted to add an unrelated bill aimed at increasing America’s economic competition with China.
“After Senate Republicans made it clear that they would block USICA’s inclusion in the NDAA, we decided that the best way to reach an agreement would be through the conference process,” Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a joint statement Wednesday night. . “Therefore, the House and Senate will immediately begin a bipartisan process to reconcile the two chambers’ legislative proposals so that we can bring the final bill to the President’s desk as soon as possible. .”
Shortly after an initial procedural vote to begin debate on the defense bill was adjourned so the leaders could negotiate a path forward, Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the party The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters that “nothing else will happen until that is resolved.”
Inhofe was also angry about adding an unrelated provision to the defense bill, saying it sets a bad precedent.
Schumer, a top USICA donor, earlier Wednesday defended his attempt to include it in the defense bill, saying it would help solve supply chain problems and boost production. America’s much-needed semiconductor chip. He also wants to push the House to pass USICA, which it has yet to do because leaders there favor a different approach, a rare disagreement among chambers controlled by Democrats.
“If we can pass a defense bill that includes the USICA language, I hope that we will be able to work with the Speaker and our House colleagues to find a way to get this bill enacted. act,” Schumer said on the exchange this week.
John Thune, Republican of the South Dakota Senate, warned the matter could be more complicated because he said Schumer was making changes to parts of the USICA bill that their GOP advocates struggled to achieve it.
“If he gets rid of the financial and trade package, I mean you will lose Republican support in a hurry,” Thune said. “I know there are tough members of the Senate Armed Services Committee who would vote ‘no’ on introducing the bill if it included the things he’s trying to include.”
The committee’s chairman, Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, who works closely with Inhofe on the NDAA and other issues, has said that the solution “will ultimately depend on leadership.”
The Senate is expected to take a recess next week for Thanksgiving, and Schumer has said it will take a break if it passes the NDAA this week or reaches a deal to get a vote on the amendments and pass the bill. finally right after the holiday.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Biden administration said it “strongly supports the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 61 consecutive years and is grateful for this year’s strong bipartisan work by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Senate Armed Services Committee on behalf of the American nation. defense.”
In a statement released by the Office of Management and Budget, the administration added that it “looks forward to continuing to work with Congress to set an appropriate and responsible level of defense spending to support the security of our Nation.” States,” and “works with Congress to provide appropriate resources for non-security investments and security investments outside of the Department of Defense.”
This story and title was updated with additional developments on Wednesday.
CNN’s Donald Judd contributed to this report.
.
