House passes short-term continuing resolution
The bill passed in a 217-212 vote, which largely fell along party lines.
The bill passed in a 217-212 vote, which largely fell along party lines.
The continuing resolution does not include $3.9 billion requested by the White House for the Columbia-class submarine, but gives funding flexibility to other key programs.
In an exclusive interview, Chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee Rep. Ken Calvert said he's pushing for a short-term continuing resolution, and avoiding a government shutdown.
“I think you'll see a range of options, from low end to potentially more exquisite,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Joseph Kunkel said of forthcoming tranches of drone wingmen. “I tend to think that it's probably going to be closer to this low end thing when we start looking at the further CCA increments.”
"Through congressional failure to pass a budget, the administration has been given an opportunity for DoD to be able to more flexibly manage its budget," write Elaine McCusker and Bill Greenwalt of AEI.
“Is a full-year CR going to have an impact? Yes, it is,” said Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Karl Gingrich. “Is it going to have a dramatic impact? In my opinion, no.”
The full year continuing resolution passed in a 54-46 vote largely along party lines, preventing a government shutdown before a midnight deadline.
“The real flaw in in the CR that we'll be voting on later this week is that it doesn't provide enough money, regardless of the anomalies and the tiny plus ups here and there,” Sen. Roger Wicker said during a SASC readiness subcommittee hearing.
“The reason why the final gaps in funding were … discovered and actually reported to the Congress is largely because there was a six- to seven-month gap associated with the continuing resolution that the Congress imposed upon the executive branch, and their [Congress] failure to pass budgets on time,” Carlos Del Toro told reporters.
The bill extends government funding until mid-March.
Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, chief of the Space Force’s Space Systems Command, stated that the service will not move forward with awards for the newest round of the National Security Space Launch program until Congress approves the fiscal 2025 budget.
DoD Comptroller Mike McCord additionally predicted that the current continuing resolution will extend until March, as the Republican Party looks to craft a “two percent better deal” once it controls Congress and the presidency come January.
The legislation now makes its way to the White House, which on Tuesday issued a statement calling for “swift passage” of the CR and indicated that President Joe Biden will sign off on the bill well in advance of the Sept. 30 deadline.
“I'd like to see in a Harris administration, a commitment to the innovation reform agenda at DoD,” said HASC Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith. “That really has, I think, stalled a little bit."