Bills Introduced – 4-18-23

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session, there were 66 bills introduced. One of those bills will receive additional attention in this blog:

HR 2670 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 Rogers, Mike D. [Rep.-R-AL-3]

While the ‘text’ of this bill is currently available, it is just the vaguest outline of the final bill with just the opening section of three Titles provided. The House Armed Services Committee and its various subcommittees will be fleshing out the details of the bill in hearings over the coming weeks. Only when that process is complete will we know what the final version of the bill will be that will come to the floor of the House for consideration. And then the amendment process will begin. The NDAA process is probably the most inclusive (from a member’s perspective) process for a major piece of legislation in the House. And this makes it one of the most bloated pieces of legislation outside of the spending bills that Congress routinely passes every year.

If the Republicans are going to fulfill their promise of limiting bills to a single purpose this bill will be a main target for their efforts. It will not change, there are just too many options for adding boondoggles, both funding and policy, in this process. Having said that, I expect there to be some major Republican infighting over this fattening up process between now and when this bill comes to the floor of the House. And they may have problems passing an NDAA this year.