House and Senate conference members will begin to reconcile two versions of the fiscal 2018Â National Defense Authorization Act after the upper chamber voted Tuesday to start formal negotiations on the bill, the Washington Examiner reported Tuesday.
The Senate designated Armed Services Committee members to lead the negotiations on the measure less than a week after the House voted and named 73 lawmakers to serve on the NDAA conference committee.
Both NDAA versions have proposed defense spending hikes for fiscal 2018 but both chambers need to achieve a compromise on several differences, including the total number of Littoral Combat Ships and F-35 fighter jets that should be acquired.
Inside Defense also reported that conference members will also need to reach a compromise on the topline budget and House’s proposal to form a new space corps within the U.S. Air Force.
Congress should come up with a reconciled FY 2018 defense policy bill before the current continuing resolution expires on Dec. 8, the report added.
