Air Force Secretary nominee Heather Wilson on Thursday weighed in on the growing political anxiety on Capitol Hill over the possibility of a continuing budget resolution in April, saying it would cause severe problems for the service.
Wilson, an Air Force veteran and former congresswoman, said another stop-gap budget measure — essentially putting federal spending on auto-pilot again — would grind pilot training to a halt, increase an exodus of pilots, reduce maintenance and freeze civilian hiring.
“If there is a continuing resolution for this year, it will make all the problems we are talking about here so much worse,” she said.
The comments came amid Wilson’s testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, a first step in her confirmation process. Top Republican war hawks such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., are ringing the alarm over the possibility Congress might not pass new spending bills when the current continuing resolution expires on April 28.
McCain on Thursday called avoiding another continuing resolution an “absolute necessity” and recently threatened to shut down the government over it.
Republicans on the committee said they were eager to get Wilson confirmed so she could follow through on pledges to rebuild the Air Force, which is struggling with a shrinking fleet, aging aircraft and years of constrained funding.
Wilson is an Air Force Academy graduate who served during the last decade of the Cold War and went on to represent New Mexico as a House Republican from 1998 to 2009.
She could be the first top Pentagon official confirmed for the Trump administration since Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was approved by the Senate in January.
The previous nominees for Army and Navy secretary dropped out due to financial entanglements.
