WASHINGTON — Rep. Mac Thornberry, the Texas Republican who heads the House Armed Services Committee, is ready for a marathon budget meeting.

The HASC holds its markup for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Wednesday, and ahead of it, Thornberry has released a new video — complete with soundtrack by legendary composer John Williams — setting the scene.

"That bill decides everything from how many people we're going to have in the military, to how much they get paid, to how many planes and ships and tanks we buy, to how much research we do for future capability," Thornberry says in the video. "It fulfills the responsibility the Constitution places on congress' shoulders to help decide and shape the future military."



What Thornberry doesn't say: the markup takes a long, long time. Last year's started around 10 AM and finished around 4:30 AM the next morning. No one said fulfilling a Congressional obligation to the Constitution was quick or easy, after all.

In the meantime, catch up on the various Defense News preview pieces of the NDAA:

 





















 


 

 



Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.

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