This will be Sen. John McCain's third time managing floor debate for the National Defense Authorization Act since 2015. | John Shinkle/POLITICO McCain to helm defense debate with hot-button issues The Senate could hold votes on transgender troops and a new war powers authorization.

The Senate is likely to tackle a slew of contentious issues this week during debate over the annual defense policy bill, from the status of transgender troops to war powers and even a surprise push by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to allow the military to close bases across the country.

It’ll also give the 81-year-old McCain, now being treated for an aggressive form of brain cancer, a week in the congressional spotlight as he seeks to rally the Senate against the partisanship and gridlock that have entangled Capitol Hill.


“I have just more energy than ever, and we are doing the defense bill on the floor of the Senate tomorrow, which will take all week, which is very important,” McCain told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview Sunday during which he reflected on his own mortality. “And so I’m just fine.”

The Senate voted 89 to 3 on Monday evening to launch debate on the bill, with debate potentially stretching into next week. Sixty votes were needed to proceed.

This will be McCain’s third time managing floor debate for the National Defense Authorization Act since 2015, when he became chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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The massive policy bill provides a budget blueprint for the military and reflects many of the Arizona Republican’s priorities since taking over the Armed Services panel, including reforms at the Pentagon and a major increase in defense spending.

Because it is considered must-pass legislation, the bill often becomes a vehicle for lawmakers to try to attach controversial amendments — and this year will be no different as senators prepare to push for votes to rein in the Trump administration on several issues.

“We have some controversial amendments,” McCain told Politico. “We always do.”

One of the most high-profile amendment fights could be over Trump’s decision to reinstate a ban on transgender troops.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has filed an amendment to delay forcing transgender individuals out of the military or altering their health benefits until Defense Secretary James Mattis completes a review of the issue.

Trump formally reinstated the ban on transgender service members in August and gave Mattis six months to submit a plan to implement the new policy, which prohibits funding for most gender-reassignment surgeries. Trump would also leave the decision of whether to remove currently serving transgender troops to Mattis. Several lawsuits have been filed to stop the ban.

McCain, for his part, has signaled support for waiting until the Pentagon completes its review to put any new policy in place.

“It would be a step in the wrong direction to force currently serving transgender individuals to leave the military solely on the basis of their gender identity rather than medical and readiness standards that should always be at the heart of Department of Defense personnel policy,” the senator said last month.

Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is trying to use the defense bill to force Congress to debate its war powers — something lawmakers have been ducking for years despite calls by members of both parties to take up the issue.

Paul is pushing an amendment that would repeal the 2001 and 2002 war resolutions after six months. The 2001 authorization for use of military force was passed ahead of the war in Afghanistan and has become the legal underpinning for the entire U.S. war on terror, including current military operations in Iraq and Syria. The 2002 AUMF authorized the war in Iraq and has never been explicitly repealed.

“Everybody up here acts all high and mighty like they want to vote for a new AUMF, but the way you’ll do it is if you force the sunset of the old ones,” Paul said. “So my bill would actually force a debate on an AUMF.”

Paul’s amendment could be a tough vote for some senators who have called for a new AUMF, but it will meet fierce opposition from McCain and other defense hawks who oppose setting limits on the president.

McCain and his panel’s top Democrat, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, are also pushing senators to grant the military’s request to shutter bases — an extremely controversial issue across the political spectrum.

The Pentagon, citing the cost of maintaining unneeded infrastructure, claims a new round of base realignment and closure, or BRAC, would save up to $2 billion a year.

But McCain’s and Reed’s amendment will likely be an uphill fight, as lawmakers have been reluctant to allow the military to begin a planning effort that could put their home-state bases at risk of closure.

Congress has denied the Pentagon’s request for base closures in recent years, citing the hefty cost of the 2005 BRAC round.

Still, McCain argued in an interview that his new proposal is gaining traction.

“I think there’s growing support for it,” he said. “But you never know, especially when it’s a hometown issue.”

Burgess Everett contributed to this report.