Congress’ 65-year defense bill streak could be in jeopardy

Congress’ annual defense authorization bill is on shaky ground this year amid partisan infighting, threatening to upend the legislation’s unblemished 65-year streak of passage.

The must-pass Pentagon policy bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), is facing an uphill climb due to its historically high $1.15 trillion request — a figure that climbs to $1.5 trillion should the Trump administration get its desired third reconciliation bill passed by Congress, also a tough climb.

Democrats feel the bill’s topline must be cut by hundreds of billions of dollars — and they want guardrails around Washington’s ongoing war against Iran — before they vote yes. That’s setting up a showdown with the Trump administration, which is not letting up on its desired dollar figure or close to a peace deal with Tehran that satisfies Democrats.  

Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense budget expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said the distance between a “nightmare scenario,” in which the NDAA is not enacted, and the opposite, a defense bill bundle that includes a third reconciliation bill, is the widest gap she’s ever seen. 

“The politics are absolutely dismal between the two branches right now,” she told The Hill. 

She expressed fears that the NDAA would become increasingly difficult to pass if the streak is broken this year, as “we are living in a norm-shattering time of great disruption, including in politics.”

“Once red lines are crossed, it is difficult to go backward. I fear the necessary and bipartisan NDAA is fragile in this new era but hope I’m wrong,” Eaglen added.

The NDAA’s bumpy path was made clear in June when the House Armed Services Committee passed its version in a 44 to........

© The Hill