Updated: 2:44 p.m.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday attended the weekly Senate
Republican policy lunch.

Gates told GOP Senators it would be a “disaster” if the war
supplemental funding bill isn’t approved by Congress before the August
break, according to one Republican aide familiar with the meeting. The House and Senate have passed competing versions of the measure but have yet to work out the differences.

Gates had a long-standing invitation to attend the closed-door GOP session. Tuesday’s attendance finally fit the secretary’s schedule.