The Senate passed an annual defense policy bill on Monday that includes $716 billion in Pentagon spending authorizations as well as a measure that would scuttle President Trump’s deal to revive Chinese telecom company ZTE.
The White House had opposed the Senate bill amendment restoring penalties on the company imposed after it violated sanctions on Iran and North Korea. The bill now threatens a deal announced by Trump to ease a prohibition on ZTE purchasing U.S. products in exchange for it paying a $1.4 billion fine and overhauling its management team.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who see the company as a national security threat successfully added it into the must-pass legislation last week.
The National Defense Authorization Act permits billions in spending on new ships and aircraft, and also green-lights the Pentagon’s development of a new low-yield nuclear warhead to counter Russia.
The Senate’s version of the NDAA passed with a 85-10 vote and now must be reconciled in conference committee with the House, which passed its version in May. The negotiations could lead to changes and the ZTE provision, which is not included in the House legislation, and other details could shift in a final bill.
The White House said last week it hopes to get the House and Senate armed services committees to drop the ZTE measure in the final version of the bill.
The NDAA passed Monday evening would prohibit the Air Force from retiring its E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar aircraft, or JSTARS. But it would authorize increased funding for the Gulf War-era surveillance planes’ replacement program, which the Air Force calls the Advanced Battle Management System.
The service has pushed back at Congress’ efforts to protect JSTARS and Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson recently compared the planes to blocky 1990s-era cellphones and dial-up Internet service.
The NDAA also sidestepped some Democratic efforts to hold up the Pentagon’s planned development of a new low-yield nuclear warhead that could be carried on U.S. submarines to deter Russia. The bill authorizes $65 million to start development.
