Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) said today the fiscal year 2020 defense authorization bill is being "held hostage" by legislative disagreements beyond his committee's jurisdiction and can only be finalized by Republican and Democratic party leaders. "Because of issues that are not in the Senate Armed Services Committees'jurisdiction, this year's [National Defense Authorization Act] is not resolved, which means only leadership can clear up this logjam that's out there right now," he said during a committee hearing. "We're out of time. I hope that we can move past these issues." House and Senate lawmakers first began negotiations on a final bill in late September. Inhofe said there is greater likelihood now that Congress will take up his proposal for a "skinny" version of the bill, though House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) has previously said a slimmed-down bill is a non-starter.
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