At Farnborough, US lawmakers tap the brakes on reconciliation
What's the status of the Pentagon's reconciliation spending request in Congress? Some lawmakers shared their perspective this week while visiting a high-profile airshow in the UK.
What's the status of the Pentagon's reconciliation spending request in Congress? Some lawmakers shared their perspective this week while visiting a high-profile airshow in the UK.
In an at times contentious hearing, the defense secretary said the administration urgently needed nearly $90 billion in supplemental funding in part to cover Iran conflict-related costs.
“There isn’t going to be a third reconciliation package. So anything that's in there is not going anywhere,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.
The sum falls slightly short of the $67 billion requested by the White House for expenses related to the Iran War.
The department has already issued guidance to its program offices on how to spend the money before the deadline hits.
Pentagon program offices are under pressure, juggling the urgency of getting reconciliation funding under contract by Oct. 1 while making sure those contracts include fair pricing and adequate oversight, one defense official told Breaking Defense.
"We just make other trade-offs, like against exquisite weapons and systems: How much of those are we willing to sacrifice in place of low-cost autonomous weapons," Emil Michael said.
Two top appropriators — Sens. Mitch McConnell and Susan Collins — expressed doubt that a third reconciliation bill with defense funding will pass.
"We're not making an estimate for MILCON [military construction] at this time. We don't know what our future posture is going to be," said Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst.
Congress has teed up a second reconciliation bill with immigration enforcement money, but future reconciliation funds for defense remain nebulous.
“Why do we suddenly have a two part budget where this committee and the Congress generally has oversight and input, to a process where a corner of the budget is essentially a slush fund?” asked Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, during a SASC hearing.
The bulk of funding comes in the form of reconciliation, a bet the department also made for a proposed hike to its Office of Strategic Capital loan program.
“Defense hawks want defense money in the reconciliation bill. I’m trying to keep it as small and focused as possible,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee.
OMB Director Russell Vought defended the use of reconciliation to pay for $350 billion in defense, saying the move would ensure that funds “aren’t held hostage” during traditional the appropriations process.