Senate agrees to tweak NDAA bill to allow conference with House

The Senate on Wednesday agreed to re-pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in order to dodge a technical hurdle that was preventing the House and Senate from meeting to agree on a final version of the bill.

The Senate re-approved the NDAA bill after the House Ways & Means Committee pointed out that the Senate bill contains revenue provisions that are required to originate in the House. Early Wednesday evening, the House approved a resolution, H.Res. 829, that formally sent the bill back to the Senate for this reason.

Moments later, the Senate approved an amended version by voice vote, a move that should allow the House to vote to conference with the Senate on the bill Thursday.

The language in the Senate bill related to new import sanctions against Iran and rebels in the Congo, which affect tariffs and government revenue. The House and Senate agreed to tweak that language in a way that avoids the hurdle, although few details were available beyond that as of Wednesday evening.

The House has tried to vote to conference with the Senate on the NDAA all week, but now should be in a position to do so Thursday. The House-passed NDAA is H.R. 4310.

The Senate also agreed to name conferees to the bill, something the House might do as early as Thursday. The Senate conferees are:

Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Jim Webb (D-Va.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Scott Brown (R-Mass.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and David Vitter (R-La.).

— Jeremy Herb and Ramsey Cox contributed

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