Congressional Leadership Dispute

Congressional negotiators teed up a roughly $900 billion National Defense Authorization Act for a House vote that restores Rep. Elise Stefanik’s requirement that the FBI notify congressional leaders within 15 days after opening counterintelligence assessments or investigations of federal candidates (with specified committee exceptions), adds authority to use active‑duty troops at the U.S.–Mexico border, and embeds a suite of national‑security and Pentagon policies — from tech bans and an outbound investment‑screening regime targeting China, codifying 15 Trump executive orders, a 3.8% military pay raise, and limits on DoD DEI programs and some service‑academy athletic rules, to withholding 25% of the Defense Secretary’s travel funds until unedited maritime‑strike footage is provided and language granting federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe. The package — expected to hit the House floor as soon as this week — comes amid a rare GOP leadership fight after Stefanik accused Speaker Mike Johnson of blocking her FBI‑notice measure (she threatened to oppose the NDAA if excluded), though aides say the language was reconciled; with a razor‑thin GOP majority, a handful of defections could imperil passage.