Nearly 1,000 amendments have been filed to the Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Amendment topics are wide-ranging and include military procurements, war powers, immigration, semiconductors, COVID-19, cyber and technology, supply chains, energy and the environment, health, housing, research and development, and space. Additionally, there is a plethora of country-specific amendments addressing Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, and, of course, China, among others. BGR’s amendment tracker can be viewed here. A full list of the filed amendments is attached and also available on Congress.gov (here).
Last night, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-RI) and Ranking Member Jim Inhofe (R-OK) sought unanimous consent to set up votes for a handful of amendments (3 bipartisan, 8 Republican, and 7 Democratic) to their bipartisan substitute amendment #3867 to the House version of the NDAA. However, several Republican senators objected and asked for one of his own amendments to be added for consideration.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) wanted to include his Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (#4330). Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT) and James Lankford (R-OK) wanted to include additional border security provisions (#4236 and #4100, respectively). Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) wanted to include measures to impose sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline (#4794). Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) wanted to address drug trafficking issues and fentanyl (#3925). Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) wanted to exempt defense contractors from the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate (#4329).
Reed objected to the senators’ requests, and both he and Inhofe spoke about the bipartisan nature of their substitute amendment as well as the nearly 60 amendments (3 bipartisan, 27 Republican, and 27 Democratic) in the manager’s package that received bipartisan support. However, because of the senators’ objections, they were forced to postpone consideration of the NDAA and votes on amendments. They are expected to again take up the legislation following the Thanksgiving recess.
As a reminder, the House passed its version of the NDAA back in September. Once the Senate passes its version, the two chambers will go to conference to negotiate a final version.