In September, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III urged Congress to reach a bipartisan agreement on appropriations for Fiscal Year 2025 to prevent a potential lapse in U.S. government funding. With the recent passage of another Continuing Resolution by Congress, a government shutdown has been avoided, which would have had significant consequences for the Department of Defense, U.S. national security, and military families.
Austin expressed relief that troops and civilian workers will continue to receive their pay as the holiday season approaches. However, he noted the frequent reliance on Continuing Resolutions over the past 15 years. "This is the 48th Continuing Resolution in the past 15 years," Austin stated. He highlighted that cumulatively, the Department has operated under such resolutions for nearly five years out of the last fifteen.
Austin emphasized that these temporary funding measures hinder long-term planning and affect recruitment efforts and addressing new security challenges. "Being forced to rely on stopgap, temporary funding measures hamstrings the Department's ability to plan for the future," he remarked.
