Thursday: Late night possible for NDAA vote

The Senate starts at 10 a.m., but may end up spending a long day in session before approving the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) just before midnight.

{mosads}Senators voted 71-29 to end debate on the NDAA, which has been put into H.R. 3304. That vote set up 30 hours of debate that will end at around midnight unless there’s an agreement to give back some of that debate time.

Republican senators refused to yield back any time in the budget debate, but they may when it comes to the NDAA, a bill that’s less controversial than the budget. Then again, they may not — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) criticized Democrats on Wednesday for rushing the NDAA through just as they rushed the budget through.

Once the NDAA passes, Senate Democrats will try to advance several Obama administration nominees before leaving for the Christmas break. But here again, Republicans may be in the mood to slow down the process, to protest the Democrats’ use of the nuclear option.

The House meets for a pro forma session at 11 a.m., and will either set up more pro forma sessions, or try to pass a longer-term adjournment resolution.