Sen. John McCain criticized congressional leaders on Thursday for agreeing to yet another continuing resolution, which he said would do more damage to the U.S. military by failing to provide stable funding.
McCain, R-Ariz., said on the Senate floor that military leaders for years have asked for a predictable funding plan. He noted that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told Congress this year that the Defense Department has been funded 30 times by continuing resolution in the last decade, and said these short-term fixes that don’t let Congress make lasting policy changes aren’t getting the job done.
“Is that a lot to ask? Stable, predictable funding, and provided on time?” McCain asked.
“The chairman of our Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dunford also stated, and I quote, ‘Without sustained, sufficient and predictable funding, I assess … that within five years, we will lose our ability to project power, the basis of how we defend the homeland, advance U.S. interests, and meet our alliance commitments,'” McCain added.
“So while the president and this Congress understand that the military does have a need for additional funding to rebuild the military, we are asking them to keep treading water for three months,” he said.
President Trump and Democrats agreed on a three-month continuing resolution on Wednesday, allowing the government to operate at current levels until Dec. 8. But McCain said continuing resolutions essentially represent a failure of Congress to manage anything.
“A continuing resolution is a crutch we rely on when we can’t pass actual appropriations bills. It’s a temporary solution to avoid the worse possible outcome, a federal shutdown,” he said. “Having to pass a continuing resolution by all accounts is a failure by the Congress of the United States to fund the federal government.”
“Quite simply, we’ve not been doing our job,” McCain concluded. “If we’re going to call ourselves the world’s greatest deliberative body, we’ve got to do one heck of a lot better.”
