Fowl play: Sage grouse pushes defense bill into the lame duck

The fiscal 2017 defense policy is stalled until after the election over disagreements about a bird with an elaborate mating dance, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday.

Analysts have speculated that the final version of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act wouldn’t be completed until after the election due to the many differences between the two bills and the tight timeline for Congress to complete its business before heading back out in October.