CONTINUING FRUSTRATION OVER CRs: March 1 will mark five months that the Pentagon has been unable to tap the additional $28 billion authorized by the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year that began last Oct. 1. It’s also the date a temporary funding measure, known as a continuing resolution or CR, will expire for parts of the government, including the Pentagon’s military construction budget. Under House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) two-step CR, funding for the entire Department of Defense and the rest of the federal government will also expire a week later, March 8.
Unless, that is, Congress acts quickly when the House, which Johnson recessed for a two-week hiatus, returns Feb. 28. None of the 12 individual appropriations bills have passed both chambers, and the likelihood is that yet another CR will be needed to continue operations under last year’s funding levels.
