US military service officials highlight impacts of full-year continuing resolution

Repair work on attack submarine USS Boise is just one of the programmes that could be at risk during a year-long continuing resolution restricting funding. (Newport News Shipbuilding)

Officials for the US Navy, US Air Force, and US Army painted a grim picture for the services if they are saddled with a full-year Continuing Resolution (CR) and unauthorised supplemental funding for fiscal year (FY) 2024 during a 28 February round-table media briefing at the Pentagon.

“I'm so very concerned about where we are on closing out [20]24 and taking action on the supplemental,” said Erik Raven, the navy's undersecretary and chief operating officer (COO).

“If we are not able to close out [20]24 and we end up under a full-year continuing resolution, what we're looking at is USD12 billion worth of reduced buying power. But the misalignment in funding lines results in another USD26 billion of funding misalignments that we may have in our coffers, but not be able to spend it on the programmes that matter.”

“When you add all this up, this is nearly a 10% impact to our top line. This is getting into the territory of the 2013 sequester in terms of fiscal impacts,” he added.

If the navy faces a full-year CR the service will prioritise readiness and people, he said. “That means taking risk in investment programmes. I'm concerned about our ability not only to execute that strategy unless given really unprecedented flexibilities by Congress, but also the follow-on impacts on industrial base and our modernisation plans.”