Lawmakers on the armed services committees are still trying to work out differences in two versions of the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. Border wall funding is the primary issue holding up a deal.
A back-up option is the so-called “skinny” version of the bill introduced by Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who would not say Tuesday whether his fallback will be necessary.
“You might not know that until December,” Inhofe said, according to CQ. “When that’s the last thing that’s left, when that’s the only way to feed our kids, it’ll be the ‘skinny’ bill.”
The pared-down bill would authorize the most mission-critical programs at DOD.
Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Scott Jenkins