Those whose lives are bound to the fate of the annual defense policy bill can rest easy for a while, but then must gird their loins for a tough patch right before Christmas, if Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, is right.
Smith, a savvy and rational lawmaker, offered no hope at today’s Stimson Center forum of aNational Defense Authorization Act being passed before Congress leaves to get reelected.
“We’ve done it in December before, and we’ll do it in December again,” he said. As someone who has covered such Christmas bills several times, I can only express my condolences to those who will be involved.
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