Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he expected to send a long-stalled defense bill to the White House soon.
As House Democrats prepared two articles of impeachment against President Trump and congressional appropriators have yet to reach a compromise to avert another government shutdown, Mr. McConnell said the National Defense Authorization Act had made significant progress and “should be able to pass” in both chambers. The NDAA provides planning for the Pentagon’s spending and policy aims for the new year.
The Kentucky Republican blamed Democrats and their focus on impeachment for impeding the defense bill, a spending resolution and action on the Senate’s other legislative priorities.
“Obstruction and stalemate have brought us to the 11th hour,” he said on the Senate floor on Tuesday. “I hope that now that we’re here, Democrats will be able to set aside the impeachment parade long enough to get the people’s business finally finished.”
Absent a new agreement on controversial spending legislation, funding for the government is set to expire next week. Mr. McConnell said Monday that appropriators had made significant progress and sounded optimistic about reaching a deal before the Dec. 20 shutdown deadline.
On Tuesday, Mr. McConnell also said he was similarly pleased with new action on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and expects the Senate to take action before the end of 2019.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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