House and Senate lawmakers today officially began a series of negotiations to hash out a final fiscal year 2021 defense authorization bill. The chairmanship of the defense authorization bill conference committee alternates between the two chambers. This year, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) "passed the gavel" to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK). Though staffers have been negotiating for months, today's meeting is the ceremonial start of the conference committee's effort to pass the bill as it has done for the previous 59 years. "The 'pass the gavel' meeting continues the bipartisan, bicameral spirit that has long been a trademark of the [National Defense Authorization Act], and allows us to hear from all the conferees as we negotiate the bill,' Inhofe said in a statement.
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