While it is welcome news that Congress has agreed to just a 12-week (versus six-month) spending freeze for all federal agencies, this was really just a case of going from the “worst” to just plain “bad” outcome. The fact is, no matter how long it may last, any lock on funds at last year’s levels harms the US military.
What’s more is that Uncle Sam’s inability to provide certainty or stability doesn’t just cause headaches for troops and their families—but also the workers and companies in the defense industry who equip warfighters.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) summed it all up, saying, “You can’t run a military and just put everything on pause . . . when you have to sign contracts, build weapon systems, et cetera.”
Calling these budget freezes time the armed forces “cannot get back” in a letter to Congress last week, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs further highlighted the self-imposed damage from continuing resolutions, including:
- slow progress on weapons system contract negotiations;
- damage to the Pentagon’s relationships with the defense industrial base;
- eroding trust between the military and industry;
- government driving up the costs of equipment for troops onto industry; and
- increasing delivery times of needed capability “as industry hedges against funding inconsistencies.”
Indeed, the Secretary of Defense told Congress “thousands” of equipment programs are harmed when the defense appropriations bill is not enacted into law on time. These include the highest priorities of Washington for those in uniform, such as preventing shipbuilding from falling further behind, acquiring high-tech drones en masse quickly, not allowing aircraft purchases to slow or stop, and replenishing dwindling munitions stocks sent overseas.
But it’s not just weapons. Virtually no military priority goes untouched under spending freezes of any duration.
Key initiatives paused by a continuing resolution include pay raises across the force, keeping troop pay stuck at last year’s levels. According to the Secretary of Defense, any effort to uphold these pay raises under a continuing resolution would require cuts from elsewhere, such as deferring training for Guard and Reserve personnel, limiting pilot flight hours across the services, and halting over 100 military housing and construction projects, while everyone waits for Congress to do its basic job.
Also negatively impacted almost immediately are military recruiting efforts, as frozen funds threaten to halt any and all progress a reversing a historic recruiting shortfall.
The US Navy has missed its recruiting targets for the past two years in a row. That means there are not enough junior sailors to man ships. The consequence of manpower shortfalls is that the Navy has “gotten to the point where we can’t do things” or provide more options to commanders and leaders during a time of tumult around the globe.
The sailors that are already in service are forced to pick up the extra slack. But there are limits to doing more with less every year. At-sea basic maintenance and repairs are being deferred as manpower shortages persist. A lack of sailors on ships is making it “moderately to extremely difficult to complete repairs while underway,” and also impairing safety during operations, according to the Government Accountability Office.
While more training would help (another priority hit by spending freezes), more recruited and on-boarded professionals are the ultimate answer—but without on-time appropriations, the Navy’s efforts to boost recruiting could be in jeopardy.
Couple these converging crises with efforts to support allies in two theaters and deterring conflict in a third, and it’s apparent that the military simply cannot afford to keep hitting pause while Congress stalls on fulfilling its basic duties. If we want to safeguard national security, Congress must pass defense appropriations on time to ensure our forces have the tools they need—otherwise, we’re asking our military to fight with one hand tied behind their back.
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