If Tuberville wants a floor vote, it’s a gamble whether there will even be one, since the Senate hasn’t taken up its own version of the NDAA in years.Ī complication for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is whether he’d be forcing a tough vote on vulnerable Democrats and whether enough of them would defect for Tuberville to actually win. Even if a vote in SASC’s closed-door markup would satisfy Tuberville, the markup has been delayed already to accommodate debt ceiling talks. The problem: The NDAA is at best a moving target. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted against. Senate Armed Services Democrat Joe Manchin (W.Va.), a co-sponsor of the bill, voted in favor, while Sens. One predictor of how that might go is a Senate measure Tuberville led last month to scrap abortion care at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which failed mostly along party lines, 48-51. And he’ll have to decide based on that outcome, whether he continues … and he’ll have another shot at the floor.” “He would certainly have that opportunity in the markup. “My instinct would be that he’s going to have to get a vote,” said former Senate Armed Services staff director Arnold Punaro. It’s not a great deal for either side, but it’s probably the most likely one. Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) has said Tuberville should take the more straightforward path of seeking an amendment vote on the Pentagon travel policy via the National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon’s annual policy bill. But none of them is easy, or one would’ve happened already. The Senate recessed last week without resolving the stalemate, but there are several scenarios that could play out when lawmakers return. “But, you know, his superpower is shamelessness.”Ī spokesperson for Tuberville said that there’s been “no movement” on the dispute, but said Tuberville spoke on the floor last week with top Senate Armed Services Republican Roger Wicker (Miss.) “and they agreed to have a conversation about it later.” “Normally, a Republican on the Armed Services Committee can see the big picture, that if even our national security becomes subject to the culture wars, then that’s bad for the country,” Sen.
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