Milcon: Where the Budget Process Hits a Wall

March 10, 2019

The defense budget request will include a $9 billion emergency fund, Defense News reported, citing sources familiar with the budget. At least $2 billion of that would be used for rebuilding and repairing infrastructure hit by storms, said its sources, who added that number may go up.
President Trump is demanding – via his national emergency declaration – that DOD divert military construction funding to build a border wall.
DOD has said it will ask Congress to re-fund any milcon projects delayed to prioritize the wall, but many on both sides of the aisle see that as a congressional work-around.
“We’re given the authority to appropriate, and the President is saying, essentially: ‘I don’t like what you’ve appropriated. I’ll just take the money and move it elsewhere,’” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, according to Defense News. “We’re setting up for a constitutional issue of significant importance.”
The Senate is expected this week to join the House in passing a resolution that would nullify the emergency declaration, but there is unlikely enough support to override a promised veto.
 
School construction last month at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. U.S. Air Force photo by William Birchfield

March 10, 2019

Recent News

Snap of the Week

Snap of the Week

Naval Academy plebes climb the Herndon Monument, a tradition symbolizing the successful completion of the midshipmen’s freshman year. The class of 2027 completed the climb in 2 hours, 19 minutes and 11 seconds. Navy photo by Stacy Godfrey

In Our Communities

In Our Communities

More than 74,000 residents of Whidbey Island, Washington could suffer long-term health impacts from the noise of jets stationed at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, according to a University of Washington study, The Seattle Times reported. Researchers said the impact...

$2 Billion Aid Package Will Help Ukraine Build Its Own Weapons

$2 Billion Aid Package Will Help Ukraine Build Its Own Weapons

A new $2 billion aid package the State Department announced Thursday will help build a Ukraine Defense Enterprise Program, according to Defense News. The fund will help Ukraine buy weapons from other countries while “investing in Ukraine’s defense industrial base,...

NDAA Draft Asks for DOD Study on Privatizing Barracks

NDAA Draft Asks for DOD Study on Privatizing Barracks

The House Armed Services Committee’s draft National Defense Authorization Act indicates lawmakers may not be ready to privatize more barracks, as Military.com reported. “Members aren’t completely bought into privatizing all housing,” a senior Republican committee aide...

PAST STORIES