Josh Gerstein at Politico:

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said Friday he'd rather see Congress fail to pass a defense authorization bill for the first time in half a century than give ground on contentious provisions that seek to direct suspected terrorists into military custody and to [authorize] gay marriages by military chaplains.

McKeon made the comments in a "C-SPAN Newsmakers" interview with POLITICO's Charles Hoskinson and John Donnelly of Congressional Quarterly. (Video posted here.)

Asked whether his convictions on both issues are so strong that he would rather not have a defense authorization bill than strip out the gay-marriage and detainee language, McKeon replied firmly on each point, "Yes."

"I'd like to see the Senate move on the bill," McKeon said. "We passed the bill months ago. We're waiting on the Senate."