Another year, another temporary funding extension to keep the government running. Unfortunately, this is nothing new. However, at $400 million to $1.7 billion in lost buying power per day, the consequences are.
There are three reasons why this year’s continuing resolution (CR) is different and even more disruptive, wasteful and damaging than past CRs have been: first, the Pentagon’s financial situation and pending emergency supplemental request; second, temporary funding levels that are significantly below current spending; and third, a post-midterm election lame duck session of Congress with a huge agenda and limited time.
This Year's CR Comes at the Worst Time Imaginable
First, the 2026 financial situation. Defense has a lot of unplanned bills. There are many reasons for this including: end-strength overage, deployments and operational tempo in the Middle East, Caribbean, and elsewhere; National Guard in Title 10 activation; fuel cost increases; and a lack of timely reimbursement from the Department of Homeland Security.
The Pentagon solvency plan to cash flow these bills includes above threshold reprogramming (ATR) actions submitted to Congress, an emergency supplemental request, deferring whatever can wait, and slowing accelerated procurement plans. This last piece, along with the sources the Pentagon was forced to use in reprogramming requests, poses the biggest problem. Deferring and delaying training and facilities maintenance and using the savings to cover budget shortfalls is exactly what led to the readiness problems and expensive facilities backlog the Department has been trying to rectify. Reprogramming sources include shipbuilding, Air Force aircraft procurement, Army base operation support and missile procurement, and many small cuts to research programs. Again, the same list of priorities that left unfunded for years led to the manufacturing, supply chain and stockpile deficiencies the Department is trying to fix.
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