Senate Passed S 1071 – FY 2026 NDAA

Yesterday, the last day of business in 2025, finished their consideration of S 1071, the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill passed by a bipartisan vote of  77 to 20. While there had been concerns about some Republicans supporting the bill, in the final vote Democrats outnumbered GOP no votes 18 to 2. This evening the President signed the bill into law.

S 1071 Passed in House – FY 2026 NDAA

This afternoon the House took up S 1071, the vehicle for the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. After a little more than an hour of debate, and a motion to recommit (which failed), the House voted 312 to 112 to pass the amended bill. There was a bit of political theatrics earlier in the day when H Res 936, the rule for the consideration of S 1071 (and five other bills) was being considered. The vote was kept open for an hour and 22 minutes, while the Republican leadership twisted arm to get five Republicans to change their Nays to Yeas, passing the Resolution by a vote of 215 to 211.

The bill now goes back to the Senate where there should be sufficient votes to pass the bill once it comes to a vote. There will be roadblocks, snags, and delays, but the bill will eventually pass.

Review – S 1071 and Cybersecurity – FY 2026 NDAA

Yesterday the House Rules Committee completed the Rule that includes the consideration of S 1071, the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The resolution approving that rule will be voted on today, and the bill will probably be considered on Thursday. The 3,083-page text of the bill contains 367 separate mentions of the word ‘cyber’, a few too many to do a reasonable assessment here. The picture is better for the term ‘cybersecurity’, there are only 86 mentions, but still too many for a short form analysis like this.

A more reasonable way to look at cybersecurity in a bill of this size is to look at the individual sections that deal with cybersecurity issues. That is much easier, as there are just eight such sections:

§ 866. Cybersecurity regulatory harmonization.

§ 1067. Cybersecurity and resilience annex in Strategic Rail Corridor Network assessments.

§ 1511. Secure mobile phones for senior officials and personnel performing sensitive functions.

§ 1512. Artificial intelligence and machine learning security in the Department of Defense.

§ 1513. Physical and cybersecurity procurement requirements for artificial intelligence systems.

§ 1514. Collaborative cybersecurity educational program.

§ 1515. Incorporation of artificial intelligence considerations into cybersecurity training.

§ 8339. Supporting cybersecurity and cyber resilience in the Western Balkans. (State Dept)

The five § 15XX sections are all within TITLE XV, Cyberspace-Related Matters. These deal with almost entirely military matters, and three of them specifically deal with artificial intelligence issues related to cybersecurity which I currently consider beyond the scope of this blog. I am also going to ignore the section dealing with secure telephones, with the caveat that anyone that uses a cell phone should peruse the section, just to see what types of things that security folks worry about with these ubiquitous devices. Finally, the State Department requirement to support cybersecurity in the Western Balkans is of little specific interest here. So that leaves three sections of potential interest here.

 

For more information on the cybersecurity provisions in this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-1071-and-cybersecurity-fy-2026 - subscription required.

Conference Committee Finishes Final Version of FY 2026 NDAA – S 1071

Yesterday the House Rules Committee updated their meeting notice for their Tuesday meeting to include S 1071 as the vehicle for the final version of FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. The Rules Committee web site provides the text of the new NDAA. The Committee will meet tomorrow to formulate the rule for the consideration of the bill. I would expect it to be a closed rule, with limited debate, no further amendments, and a simple majority vote requirement. There should be significant bipartisan support for the bill.

Originally, S 1071 passed in the Senate as “A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to disinter the remains of Fernando V. Cota from Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, Texas, and for other purposes”. According to a press release from Sen Cruz’ office, Cota was a convicted rapist that was interred in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. The text from the Senate passed bill has been included in the final conference version of the bill as §8806.

The bill now includes:

DIVISION E—Department of State Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026,

DIVISION F – Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026,

DIVISION G – Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025, and

TITLE LXXXVI – Securing the airspace, facilitating emergency response, and safeguarding key infrastructure, entertainment venues, and stadiums.

I will have more details in subsequent posts.

HR 3838 Passed in House – FY 2026 NDAA

Yesterday the House passed HR 3838, the Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, by a somewhat bipartisan (four Republicans voted Nay and 17 Democrats voted Aye) vote of 231 to 196. The House considered the bill over two days under a rule that authorized 298 amendments to be introduced during the debate on the bill.

Each of the eight cybersecurity amendments and one Space Geek amendment that I discussed in my rule post were approved by voice votes during four separate en bloc votes.

The bill now goes to the Senate that is currently considering their version of the bill (S 2296). Once that bill is passed, the Senate will take up HR 3838, substituting the passed S 2296 language, adopting the revised version, and sending it back to the House. The House could either adopt that version (unlikely) or request a conference committee to resolve the differences between the two versions of the bill. At some future date the conferenced version would be voted upon by both bodies.

Review – HR 3838 Rule for Consideration – FY 2026 NDAA

The House Rules Committee completed their rule hearing for the consideration of HR 3838, the Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026. In addition to making some changes to the reported text of the bill, the Committee completed work on the rule for the consideration of the bill this week (scheduled later today), including approving the introduction of 298 amendments. Nine of those amendments are of potential interest here, eight related to cybersecurity issues and one Space Geek related amendment. There are no chemical safety related amendments beyond the obligatory fentanyl issues and surprisingly no counter unmanned aircraft system (UAS) amendments cleared for consideration.

Moving Forward

Consideration will start today with the approval of the rule resolution. The actual consideration of HR 3838 will probably start tomorrow. The rule authorizes 10 minutes of debate for each of the 298 amendments, but many will be considered en bloc with a single vote covering multiple amendments. Those would be amendments with little or no opposition, with most of the amendments of interest here falling into that category. Amendment #79, providing for NSA cybersecurity support to the parts of the private sector, probably will not be one of the en bloc amendments, but I would expect it to pass.

The final vote on HR 3838 is expected to be held on Thursday. Baring unforeseen issues, the bill is expected to pass with some level of bipartisan support.

 

For more information on the amendments of interest here, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-3838-rule-for-consideration-fy - subscription required.

Review – Committee Hearings – Week of 9-7-25

This week with both the House and Senate in session, there is a moderately busy hearing schedule, but little of specific interest here. In fact, the only hearing worth mentioning here are three spending bills undergoing their final markup, two in the House and one in the Senate. Both the House and Senate will consider their own versions of the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

Spending Bills

Tuesday – House Appropriations – Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHH),

Wednesday – House Appropriations - Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS), and

Thursday – Senate Appropriations – Homeland Security (DHS)

 

For more information on these hearings, and potential NDAA action on the floor of the House and Senate, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/committee-hearings-week-of-9-7-25 - subscription required.

Review – Committee Hearings – Week of 7-6-25

With both the House and Senate back in Washington, hopefully recovered from their marathon sessions last week, there is a moderately busy hearing schedule. It looks like the Senate Armed Services Committee will begin their subcommittee markup of the 2026 NDAA. The appropriations committees continue to work on spending bills. There is also a pipeline safety hearing in the House and a medical cybersecurity hearing in the Senate.

Spending Bills

According to the House Appropriations Committee web site, there are no markup hearings scheduled this week, but the House.gov Committee Repository site shows a subcommittee hearing today for “Markup of Fiscal Year 2026 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Bill”. That bill is not on the list of the markups scheduled for next week according to the Committee site.

On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee will meet to markup three spending bills:

Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS),

Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA (ARD), and

Legislative Branch

Pipeline Safety

On Tuesday, the Subcommittee on Energy of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on “Strengthening American Energy: A Review of Pipeline Safety Policy”.

Cybersecurity

On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing on “Securing the Future of Health Care: Enhancing Cybersecurity and Protecting Americans’ Privacy”.

 

For more information on these hearings, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/committee-hearings-week-of-7-6-25 - subscription required.

HR 5009 Passed in House – FY 2025 NDAA

This afternoon the House took up the Senate Amendment to HR 5009 with a new amendment that became the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. The bill was considered under the provisions of H Res 1612. After almost an hour of debate (and a brief delay for behind the scenes lobbying) the House passed the NDAA amendment language by a bipartisan vote of 281 to 140 (16 Republican Nays and 82 Democratic Ayes). The bill now goes to the Senate where a vote could occur as early as Friday; the bill is expected to be passed in the Senate.

The NDAA provides guidance and authorization for military programs, some of those provisions will have impacts outside of the military and defense industrial base. These provisions (subscription required) address cybersecurity, counter UAS operations, and commercial space operations.

Review – HR 5009, Some Provisions – FY 2025 NDAA

Today the House is scheduled to take up HR 5009, which is the vehicle for the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. The NDAA provides guidance and authorization for military programs, some of those provisions will have impacts outside of the military and defense industrial base. These provisions include cybersecurity, counter UAS operations, and commercial space operations.

Moving Forward

While there are provisions of objection to both sides of the aisle in this proposed amendment, it is expected that there will be some level of bipartisan support for the measure that will allow the bill to pass in the House. There is a possibility that there will be attempts to amend the bill in the Senate, but any such amendments will require the bill to come back to the House for approval of the changes. This would endanger the intent of the leadership of both bodies to complete their business this session before Christmas.

 

For more information on the provisions of this bill that could have impacts on the private sector, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-5009-some-provisions - subscription required.

HR 5009 Rule – FY 2025 NDAA

This afternoon the House Rules Committee met to formulate the rule for the consideration this week of three bills, including the Senate Amendment to HR 5009 {the vehicle for they FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)}. The Committee approved a closed rule for the consideration of the amended version of HR 5009. It provides for one hour of debate and no amendments from the floor.

There were only five Republican members of the Committee present for the vote on the rule, but it did include Rep Roy (R, TX), one of the three Freedom Caucus members. This would seem to indicate that there will not be any Republican opposition to the passage of the Rule, probably on Wednesday. This would mean that the Republicans will probably be able to pass the bill without Democratic support. If the rule were not to pass, the Leadership would have to bring the bill to the floor under the suspension of the rules process. This would then require significant Democratic support to pass the bill, because it would require a super-majority (60%) to pass. 

House Passes HR 8070 – FY 2025 NDAA

This morning, the House concluded their consideration of HR 8070, the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, passing two more groups of en block amendments and passing three other stand-alone amendments. Then the House passed the bill with a near party line (6 Democrats voting aye, and 3 Republicans voting nay) vote of 217 to 199 with 15 members not voting.

The voice votes on en bloc #4 (9:31 am EDT) and #5 (9:45 am EDT) approved a total of 115 amendments. Between all five en bloc amendments the 14 (4 cybersecurity, 5 space, 3 vehicle technology and 2 UAS) amendments that I briefly discussed on Wednesday were adopted by the House.

The bill now heads to the Senate for further consideration. The Senate Armed Forces Committee was working on their version of an NDAA bill this week. Once that language and report are passed, the Senate will (sooner or later) take up HR 8070 with the first amendment to be considered will be a substitute language amendment with language from the Senate version of the bill. When that most likely more moderate authorization bill is passed in the Senate it will be sent back to the House for consideration of the revised language. The House leadership would then be forced to consider whether they were willing to use Democratic votes to pass the Senate version or insist on a conference committee to resolve the differences between the two versions. The 14 amendments discussed above could all end up in a conference bill.

The conference version of the bill would still likely require opposition votes to pass, but that would be after the November election and that would be less of a problem for Speaker Johnson. Unless, of course, if Trump is elected President and the Republican gain control of the Senate and retain control of the House. Then all bets are off.

Rules Report for HR 8070 Published – FY 2025 NDAA

Since I published last night’s post on amendments to HR 8070, the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, the House Rules Committee has published their Committee Print of their report on the rule (H Res 1287) for the consideration of HR 8070. This removes my concern about starting debate today on that bill. Below is the revised list of amendments of potential interest here with the amendment numbers that will be used in that debate. I have also added two amendments on uncrewed aircraft systems.

Cybersecurity Related Amendments

102. Panetta (CA), Bacon (NE), Trone (MD), Wagner (MO), Rodgers (WA), Schneider (IL): Creates a foreign military officer subject matter expert exchange program with key Middle East partners in areas such as artificial intelligence, military doctrine and spending, cyber resiliency, counterterrorism, and more. (10 minutes),

124. Green (TN): Mandates that the Department of Defense produce a report to Congress on the feasibility of furnishing the national guard of every state a cyber unit to ensure the state has the ability to quickly respond to cyber attacks. (10 minutes),

248. Joyce (OH): Authorizes the “Project Spectrum” program within the Office of Small Business Programs of the Department of Defense to provide Department of Defense suppliers that are small or medium businesses, through an online platform, digital resources and services that increase awareness about cybersecurity risks and help such entities to comply with the cybersecurity requirements of the defense acquisition system. (10 minutes), and

275. Banks (IN): Requires the Secretary of Defense to provide a plan for the growth of the Hacking for Defense program. (10 minutes).

Space Related Amendments

114. Gottheimer (NJ), Titus (NV), Moskowitz (FL): Expresses support for joint U.S.-Israel cooperation in the space arena between NASA and the Israel Space Agency, including joint U.S. Air Force and the Israeli Air Force’s newly created Space Force in areas of research, development, test, and evaluation. (10 minutes),

141. Himes (CT), Crawford (AR), Bergman (MI): Expresses the sense of Congress the importance of comprehensive cislunar Space Domain Awareness capabilities and the need to ensure the safety of flight of civil and commercial missions in cislunar space. Directs the Chief of Space Operations to deliver a report on three things: requirements for cislunar, the department’s plan for researching and developing technologies for cislunar, and how the department coordinates with the Cislunar Technology Strategy Interagency Working Group regarding the progress made on the objectives laid out in the November 2022 National Cislunar Science and Technology Strategy. (10 minutes),

262. Ivey (MD): Directs the GAO to study, and issue a report on, the potential threats to US interests posed by Iran, China, Russia, and other adversarial States through the antagonistic use of extraterrestrial satellites for combat, incapacitation of other satellites, cybersecurity intrusions, debilitation of critical infrastructure, and other aggressive purposes. (10 minutes),

274. Pettersen (CO), Crow (CO): Expresses a Sense of Congress that the Space Force continue its commitment to accelerating the development of very low earth orbit (VLEO) space capabilities. (10 minutes), and

280. Donalds (FL): Directs the U.S. Space Force to submit a report pertaining to its current and future potential use of nuclear thermal propulsion space vehicles and nuclear electric propulsion space vehicles, and how these nuclear-powered space vehicles can bolster America's national security. (10 minutes).

Vehicle Technology Related Amendments

239. Buchanan (FL): Requires the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study to assess ways unmanned vehicles can reduce overall operating expenses and costs at the Department of Defense. (10 minutes),

279. Walberg (MI), Dingell (MI): Requires the Secretary of Defense to conduct a study on the national security risks of highly automated vehicles associated with foreign adversary countries operating or testing in the United States. (10 minutes), and

344. Bergman (MI): Authorizes $10 million for Fuel Cell Multi-Modular Use (FC-MMU) utilizing hydrogen in FY25. (10 minutes).

UAS Related Amendments

278. Donalds (FL): Adds a Sense of Congress that Congress encourages the U.S. Armed Forces to utilize innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence, quantum, advanced air mobility, and counter-uas, to ultimately defend the national security of the United States. (10 minutes), and

328. Gottheimer (NJ), Tenney (NY), Moskowitz (FL): Requires the Secretary of Defense to report on the status of U.S.-Israel cooperation on efforts to counter threats by Iran in the form of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), including loitering munitions, otherwise known as “suicide” and “kamikaze” drones. (10 minutes).

Amendments Made in Order – HR 8070, FY 2025 NDAA

Earlier today, the House Rules Committee met to formulate the rule for the consideration of HR 8070, the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. The rule allows for a structured rule with limited debate on a limited number of amendments. Neither the proposed resolution (which forms the rule upon which the House will vote), nor the Committee Report for that resolution (which includes the list of amendments approved for consideration) have been published on the HR 8070 page on the Committee’s website.

The Committee has annotated a number of the 1387 amendments listed on the page as being proposed for floor consideration of HR 8070 as being ‘Made in Order’. While this is not the official listing in the Committee Report, it should accurately affect which amendments will be listed in the report.

I have listed proposed amendments below that are marked as ‘Made in Order’ and appear to be of potential interest here in three separate categories: Cybersecurity Related Amendments (4), Space Related Amendments (4), and Vehicle Technology Related Amendments (4). The CFATS related amendment that I discussed last week has not been marked ‘Made in Order’; I will discuss that in the commentary below.

Cybersecurity Related Amendments

Panetta (CA), Bacon (NE), Trone (MD), Wagner (MO), Rodgers (WA), Schneider (IL)	Bi-Partisan	Revised Creates a foreign military officer subject matter expert exchange program with key Middle East partners in areas such as artificial intelligence, military doctrine and spending, cyber resiliency, counterterrorism, and more.
Green (TN)	Republican	Mandates that the Department of Defense produce a report to Congress on the feasibility of furnishing the national guard of every state a cyber unit to ensure the state has the ability to quickly respond to cyber attacks.
Joyce (OH)	Republican	Revised Authorizes the “Project Spectrum” program within the Office of Small Business Programs of the Department of Defense to provide Department of Defense suppliers that are small or medium businesses, through an online platform, digital resources and services that increase awareness about cybersecurity risks and help such entities to comply with the cybersecurity requirements of the defense acquisition system.
Banks (IN)	Republican	Revised Requires the Secretary of Defense to provide a plan for the growth of the Hacking for Defense program.

Space Related Amendments

Gottheimer (NJ), Titus (NV), Moskowitz (FL)	Democrat	Revised Expresses support for joint U.S.-Israel cooperation in the space arena between NASA and the Israel Space Agency, including joint U.S. Air Force and the Israeli Air Force’s newly created Space Force in areas of research, development, test, and evaluation.
Himes (CT), Crawford (AR), Bergman (MI)	Bi-Partisan	Cislunar Space Domain Awareness capabilities and the need to ensure the safety of flight of civil and commercial missions in cislunar space. Directs the Chief of Space Operations to deliver a report on three things: requirements for cislunar, the department’s plan for researching and developing technologies for cislunar, and how the department coordinates with the Cislunar Technology Strategy Interagency Working Group regarding the progress made on the objectives laid out in the November 2022 National Cislunar Science and Technology Strategy.
Pettersen (CO), Crow (CO)	Democrat	Revised Expresses a Sense of Congress that the Space Force continue its commitment to accelerating the development of very low earth orbit (VLEO) space capabilities.
Donalds (FL)	Republican	Revised Directs the U.S. Space Force to submit a report pertaining to its current and future potential use of nuclear thermal propulsion space vehicles and nuclear electric propulsion space vehicles, and how these nuclear-powered space vehicles can bolster America's national security.

Vehicle Technology Related Amendments

Bergman (MI)	Republican	Revised Authorizes $10 million for Fuel Cell Multi-Modular Use (FC-MMU) utilizing hydrogen in FY25.
Buchanan (FL)	Republican	Revised Requires the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study to assess ways unmanned vehicles can reduce overall operating expenses and costs at the Department of Defense.
Ivey (MD)	Democrat	Revised Directs the GAO to study, and issue a report on, the potential threats to US interests posed by Iran, China, Russia, and other adversarial States through the antagonistic use of extraterrestrial satellites for combat, incapacitation of other satellites, cybersecurity intrusions, debilitation of critical infrastructure, and other aggressive purposes.
Walberg (MI), Dingell (MI)	Bi-Partisan	Requires the Secretary of Defense to conduct a study on the national security risks of highly automated vehicles associated with foreign adversary countries operating or testing in the United States.

Moving Forward

Since the Committee has not ‘published their rule resolution’ on their web site, it cannot technically be considered tomorrow. House rules are made to be waived, so that may not stop things from proceeding, but this is a short week for the House and it will certainly make it more difficult to finish up this bill before the House leaves Thursday night for a week campaigning and raising money in their home districts.

Commentary

While I have frequently noted that it looked like the only way that the CFATS reauthorization or reinstatement was going to bypass the Sen Paul (R,KY) logjam in the Senate was for it to be included as an amendment to a must pass bill, there has always been a problem with that path forward; it is not actually ‘allowed’ in the rules of the House or the Senate to have an amendment that is not related to the bill for which it is offered. That standard is frequently ignored, but looking at the list of amendments not ‘Made in Order’ it looks like the Committee tried to pay more attention to that requirement than frequently seen in the recent past.

There does remain on bill that would more closely meet that requirement for a CFATS amendment, the Homeland Security Spending bill. While spending bills are not technically allowed to include purely legislative language, that requirement is frequently ignored. More importantly, the CFATS program was originally authorized in a DHS Spending bill and periodically reauthorized in those bills until a stand alone bill was passed in 2014. The big problem with that is that a standalone DHS spending bill has not made it to the President’s desk in a long time. That means that we probably cannot expect to see a CFATS amendment in a spending bill until a consolidated spending bill is crafted, but that could be next spring. The CFATS program will have lost most of its people long before that.

Perhaps, we are going to have to rely on old fashioned politics to break through Sen Paul. This could simply require Sen Shumer to meet with Paul and determine what he wants in trade for not objecting to the consideration of HR 4470. In his original objection he wanted the Senate to take up an amendment related to duplicate regulations. Shumer did not want to reward Paul for his objection (or encourage others to take the same tack), so he did not agree. Perhaps it is time to reward Paul for his perseverance. CFATS really does need to be reinstated, and that would be a small price for the nation to pay.

Review - Committee Hearings – Week of 6-9-24

This week with both the House and Senate in session, we have a moderately busy hearing schedule. In the House we have continued work of FY 2025 spending bills. The Senate Armed Services Committee will be holding a series of closed hearings this week on formulating the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act. In the House there will be hearings on a rule for HR 8070, the FY 2025 NDAA, Microsoft vulnerabilities and regulatory duplication.

Spending Bill Hearings

Spending Bills	House
ARD	Subcommittee
State	Full Committee
DOD, FinServ, Legislative	Full Committee

NDAA Rule - Today, the House Rules Committee will hold a hearing on “HR 8070 - Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025”.

Microsoft Vulnerabilities - On Thursday, the House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing on “A Cascade of Security Failures: Assessing Microsoft Corporation’s Cybersecurity Shortfalls and the Implications for Homeland Security”.

Regulatory Duplication - On Thursday, the Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee will hold a hearing on “What We Have Here…is a Failure to Collaborate: Review of GAO’s Annual Duplication Report”.

 

For more information on these hearings, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/committee-hearings-week-of-6-9-24 - subscription required. This is the latest regular posting that I am moving to my Substack site.

Review - HR 8070 Reported in House – FY 2025 NDAA

Last week, the House Armed Services Committee published their report on HR 8070, Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025. The reported bill includes two cybersecurity and two uncrewed aircraft system provision of potential interest here. The Committee completed their final markup of the bill on May 22^nd, 2024 and ordered the bill reported favorably by a strongly bipartisan vote of 57 to 1.

The bill’s provisions of potential interest here include:

• §902. Executive Agent for Countering Threats Posed by Small Unmanned Aircraft.

• §924. Establishment Of the Drone Corps as A Basic Branch of the Army.

• §1501. Authority to accept voluntary and uncompensated services from cybersecurity experts.

• §1502. Establishment of the Department of Defense Hackathon program.

The Committee Report includes the following cyber related discussions that may be of interest here:

• Connected Vehicle Cybersecurity Center (pg 50),

• Digital literacy at Army (pgs 52-3),

• Enhanced environment for Multi-Domain Operations Cybersecurity Testing (pg 54),

• Briefing on Cybersecurity Threats to Water Infrastructure (pg 296),

• Clarification and Deconfliction of Responsibilities for Cybersecurity Functions within the Department of Defense (pg 298), and

• Digital Reserves (pg 301).

Moving Forward

Last week, the House Rules Committee called for potential amendments to HR 8070 with an amendment deadline of close of business on May 31^st, 2024. To date there have been 1,259 proposed amendments submitted, 114 of those were submitted after the published deadline. To date there has been no meeting notice published for the Rules Committee to formulate the rule for the consideration of the bill.

Commentary

Normally, the approval of the reported version of the bill by a vote of 57 to 1, a strong show of bipartisan support for the bill, would mean that the bill would be expected to move smoothly through the floor consideration of the bill through a rule with various floor amendments being considered. In the 118^th Congress, however, this could mean that the provisions of bill do not adequately target the objectives of the more conservative members of the Republican caucus. In the last year, that has frequently meant that the Rules Committee could not craft a rule for consideration of the bill, or if such a rule was developed, would be effectively vetoed by a small number of Republicans voting no.

The bipartisan support for the current bill, could allow the Leadership to bring the bill to the floor under the suspension of the rules process and depend on a number of Democratic votes to pass the bill. Each time that happens, the support of Speaker Johnson by the Republican fringe is further eroded.

 

For more details about the provisions of the bill and the report discussions, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-8070-reported-in-house - subscription required.

HR 2670 Conference Report Agreed to in House – 2024 NDAA

After the Senate agreed to the conference report on HR 2670 yesterday by a vote of 87 to 13, today the House took up the Report under the suspension of the rules process. After about 50 minutes of debate, the House also agreed to the Report by a vote of 310 to 118. The Nay votes came from the outer fringes of both parties. The bill, with the revised language from the confernece report, now goes to the President for signature, he is expected to sign the bill, probably early next week.

At the end of the debate in the House, Rep Roy (R,TX) took one last effort to stop the bill by moving to adjourn. The vote on that motion failed by a vote of 27 to 307, with 103 people not voting. The move delayed the final vote on the bill by a little over 20 minutes.

While the vote was bipartisan (on both sides of the issue), the majority of the Yeas came from Democrats (163 to 147) and the majority of the Nay votes came from Republicans (73 to 45). The leadership could not have passed the bill under regular order because there would not have been enough Republican votes to adopt the rule for the consideration of the Report. It remains to be seen if there will be a price to be paid by Speaker Johnson for using Democrats to pass the bill. 

Review - Conference Report for HR 2670 Published – 2024 NDAA

Yesterday, the conference committee for HR 2670 published their report on HR 2670, the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. The report includes a listing of sections from the House and Senate versions of the bill that were included (and excluded) in the final version of the bill. The 3000+ page Report also includes the actual text of the bill. In addition to the NDAA provisions the final version includes the State Department and Intelligence authorization bills.

Moving Forward

The Report is currently (tentatively) scheduled to be considered by the House next week. The House.gov website notes that the bill will be considered under the suspension of the rules process (limited debate, no floor amendments, and a super-majority would be required for passage).

Commentary

Typically (but certainly not always) conference reports are considered under a closed rule. This too limits debate, and prohibits consideration of miscellaneous amendments, but only requires a simple majority for passage. The reason for this is almost certainly to do with opposition to the revised version of the bill by some of the more fringe elements of the Republican caucus. First off, those folks hold an effective veto power (three votes per the deal that McCarthy made to become the Speaker last January) in the House Rules Committee, so they could potentially stop the approval a rule. Then, if a rule were approved, it would take only three Republicans voting against the rule on the floor of the House (the opposition party by tradition votes against rules) to stop the House from considering the Report.

The House (and Senate) leaderships expect that there will be sufficient bipartisan support for the bill to be passed in both bodies. This means that, once again, the Republican leadership is counting on support from Democrats to pass an important piece of legislation. While this bill is not as important to fringe elements of the party as spending bills, it is still likely to draw the ire of at least a segment of that fringe. What that means for future political operations in the House remains to be seen.

For more details about the cybersecurity provisions included (and excluded) in the final version of the bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/conference-report-for-hr-2670-published - subscription required.

Review - S 2226 Considered in Senate – FY 2024 NDAA – 7-26-23

Yesterday, the Senate continued their consideration of S 2226, the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. Four amendments were considered (one passed and three failed), none of which were of particular interest here. An agreement was reached to continue consideration today with a vote scheduled for Warnock Amendment No. 199, again not of particular interest here. Thirteen new amendments were proposed yesterday, SA 1059 thru 1072.

 

For more details about yesterday’s coverage, including links to the amendments of interest, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-2226-considered-in-senate-1c7 - subscription required.

Review - S 2226 Considered in Senate – FY 2024 NDAA – 7-19-23

Yesterday, after voting 72 to 25 to proceed to the consideration of S 2226, the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate began to actively consider the bill. Four amendments were considered (none of specific interest here) with two being adopted and two rejected by recorded votes. Further debate continues today with a vote scheduled on SA 926, adding a section on “Prohibition on Sales of Petroleum Products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Certain Countries.” Other amendments may be considered.

 

For more details on yesterday’s consideration of S 2226, including links to all of the amendments submitted to date, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/s-2226-considered-in-senate - subscription required.