Pelosi to whip Dems against $612B defense policy bill

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) will whip her fellow Democrats against the chamber’s annual defense policy bill, according to a leadership aide. 

“Yes, we will whip against this bill,” the aide told The Hill on Wednesday morning.

Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday that Pelosi had contacted him about possibly opposing the legislation.

He said she was against the measure because of a GOP move to add $38 billion to the Pentagon’s war fund that would break spending caps put in place by a 2011 budget deal.

“Basically, by giving defense $38 billion more, you bust the budget caps only for defense, and you leave everything else behind. And we’ve always said that we don’t support that,” he told The Hill.

Pelosi’s opposition could endanger the $612 billion defense policy bill’s passage when it comes to the floor later this week. 

The House Rules Committee is set to meet today to begin consideration of roughly 350 amendments to the legislation. The bill could reach the House floor some time today, with debate slated to take up most of Thursday.

A vote on passage is expected on Friday.