Republican defense hawks say Plan B in House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-Louisiana) stopgap federal spending bill is not viable as long as the six-month deadline is still included.
“I'm not in favor of anything that takes four months. I'm not in favor of anything that goes beyond Dec. 31,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) told The Hill on Wednesday.
House Republican leaders on Wednesday withdrew a six-month stopgap budget plan hours before a scheduled floor vote, following opposition from defense hardliners, conservative conservatives and moderates.
Johnson appears prepared to move forward with a vote on a funding plan that links a six-month continuing resolution to a bill backed by former President Trump that would require proof of citizenship to vote.
But at least 12 Republicans, including Rogers, have made it clear they will not vote for the bill, weakening its chances of passage.
Johnson said he would postpone the vote until next week to try to “build consensus”.
Now, Republican defense hawks, concerned about the impact of not increasing funding for the Pentagon, say they want the next iteration of Johnson's plan to shorten the defense period.
“I'm not pressuring you. [Johnson]Asked about the chairman's discussions about Plan B, Rogers said: “I told the chairman that I agree with the CR but that I'm not going to look at anything beyond December 31st.”
Rob Wittman (R-Va.), vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the longer the CR drags on into next year, the “greater the problem” becomes for U.S. defense.
“At the end of the day, we want to do what's best for our national defense,” he told The Hill. “We just told him, [Johnson] I understand that. I want to make sure we're all part of making something happen.”
He added about the CR: “Our effort is to make it as short as possible, so that we can minimise the impact on defence.”
Asked if more than three months of CR was a no-go for him, Wittman replied, “I haven't drawn any lines,” adding, “It's a pretty fluid situation.”
And Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), who oversees the Pentagon's budget, said Monday he was prepared to support Johnson but didn't like the six-month limit because it would “restrain” the Pentagon.
“The U.S. military is the largest corporation in the world,” he said of the U.S. military. “You can't operate at that scale. [six-month] “For a certain period of time”
The Department of Defense has also strongly opposed a long-term CR, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sending a letter to top House and Senate appropriations officials over the weekend arguing that such a bill would impose “numerous hardships” on the military.
Austin said extending the temporary measures “would put us far behind” in responding to challenges from China and ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East.
The letter is notable because the Pentagon has typically had to endure months of CRs since 2011, when it has been unable to finalize a military budget proposal except once, for fiscal year 2019. But in that same period, the Pentagon has never received interim funding lasting more than three months.
Congressional impasse over the fiscal 2024 budget led the administration to continue the CR past its deadline, impacting Defense Department operations until the full budget was secured in March last year.
The Defense Department has requested an $849.8 billion budget for fiscal 2025 and argues that operating below that level beyond the Sept. 30 deadline would impact a range of programs, services and projects.
Additionally, if a spending bill is not passed by Jan. 1, it will trigger limitations set out in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, an agreement reached last year between President Biden and House Republicans.
Under the legislation, failure to approve the full government budget by January would trigger a process to cut discretionary national security spending limits by 1% below fiscal year 2023 levels. Austin said this could cost the Defense Department $42 billion out of its fiscal year 2025 budget request.
A pressure campaign by the Pentagon and defense hawks is increasing the likelihood that House Republicans, with support from Democrats and the White House, will pass a three-month CR.
Lawmakers must agree to a short-term extension of federal funding by Sept. 30 or risk a shutdown of dozens of government agencies, along with non-essential operations within the Pentagon.
