Sen. John McCain will return to Arizona to begin treatment for brain cancer on Monday, leaving the annual defense authorization bill he has spearheaded with an uncertain future in the Senate.
Debate and a final floor vote on the $700 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which hikes military spending over what President Trump has requested, is now likely to be delayed until the Senate returns from its summer recess in September because of McCain’s absence. McCain and Senate leadership had been eyeing the possibility of hurrying the bill to the floor and finishing it as early as last week, but his need for medical treatment is now putting the NDAA on a slower track.
“On Monday, July 31, [McCain] will begin a standard post-surgical regimen of targeted radiation and chemotherapy,” according to a statement released by his office.
McCain is planning to return to Washington after Senate’s August recess. His office indicated the Armed Services chairman will continue working remotely, meaning he could stay involved in the details of the NDAA process such as preparing for conference negotiations with the House after the Senate passes its version of the bill.
But the chairman is unable to represent the bill on the Senate floor from Arizona, which is the job of the Armed Services chairman. Senate Republican leaders have signaled they won’t advance the bill in McCain’s absence.
Just before he left, McCain tried to bring the bill to a floor vote after returning to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a few days of work, but was first blocked by the Democrats over the Obamacare debate. Early Friday morning, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., objected to consideration of the NDAA over amendments he wanted considered as part of the bill.
Paul’s office said the block involved detentions and a new authorization for the use of military force.
“Senator Rand Paul requested two bipartisan amendments, one on ending indefinite detention and one on AUMFs,” said spokesman Sergio Gor. “He looks forward to working with leadership and the committee to get this done soon.”
Paul has introduced legislation that revokes the U.S. government’s ability to indefinitely detain terror suspects, saying the practice that began after 9/11 is unconstitutional.
The NDAA calls for more ships, aircraft and troops than what Trump requested in his 2018 budget proposal, something McCain began pushing early this year with a white-paper report on the need for more investment in the military.
His absence and a delay in a floor vote is not likely to endanger the bill, but it could reduce McCain’s influence in a looming fight over federal spending this year, said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Arizona senator’s committee has proposed a big hike in its $700 billion bill but Senate appropriators, who actually write spending legislation, are proposing to stick closely to much lower 2018 funding caps imposed by the Budget Control Act, Cancian said.
That has created an $80 billion difference in proposed defense spending in the chamber, he said. Lawmakers may try to hammer out an overarching budget deal later this year that includes some defense spending figure within that range.
“McCain’s strategy has been to get on the boards first and to drive the discussion,” Cancian said. “I think that was his strategy with the NDAA, that he would get it passed quickly and his higher number would be in there and then everyone else could react to that.”
If the NDAA is delayed until the fall, Senate appropriators could get their lower spending proposal passed first and make McCain “much less relevant,” he said.
