Though House Republican Leadership has been internally debating the best path forward on Defense and foreign intelligence policy, the House is still planning to consider the NDAA Conference Report under suspension before the end of the week. The Senate will likely pass the Conference Report by a wide bipartisan vote on Tuesday, setting up a House vote on Thursday.
House Leadership’s current struggle is a result of several controversial provisions being dropped in Conference (most notably DoD’s abortion policy) and the inclusion of a short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) until April 19, 2024. In response, the House Freedom Caucus is strongly opposed to the NDAA Conference Report and “prepared to use all available leverage to change the status quo.” Competing bills to reauthorize FISA have passed the House Judiciary Committee and the Select Intelligence Committee on a bipartisan basis.
Given the internal angst about the fate of the NDAA, the Speaker has plans to consider the two competing FISA authorizations under a so-called “Queen of the Hill” rule, allowing only for the bill that receives the most votes to advance to the Senate. The Speaker’s hope is to relieve some of the Member pressure while still allowing for the NDAA-and short-term FISA extension-to be signed into law prior to Christmas.
There is some concern, however, that Select Intelligence Committee version of the re-authorization will receive more votes than Judiciary’s bill. If that occurs, the FISA vote may not relieve the Member pressure and we could see additional legislative hiccups related to the NDAA, possibly extending what is to be the last week of session before the end of the year.