Every year, you can pretty much set your clock by the National Defense Authorization Act.

It is a huge piece of legislation, nearly a trillion dollars worth.

But it's also reliable.

Like a July 4th parade, this bill is going to make its way through Congress, no matter

who's running things.

A lot of the time, it gets named after someone, like a battleship.

In 2018, it was the John McCain Defense Authorization Act.

Last year, retiring Senator James Inhoff got the honor.

What I'm saying is, usually, you and I would not be talking about the Defense Authorization

Act, or as Melanie Zanona at CNN puts it.

Because it is such a big bill and it's so important.

But it's usually not that controversial or spicy.

Yeah.

When I read about this bill, it seemed like it had the potential to be the definition

of a messaging bill.

Just because it doesn't appropriate money, it offers a roadmap for how to spend money

that gets appropriated.

It's like an invitation for big thoughts.

Am I reading that right?

You're absolutely right.

There's a difference between a spending bill and an authorization bill.

So you can kind of think about it like a credit card, like this is going to authorize

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