Costs of the CR: Marines will miss full strength, and more
A continuing resolution is better than a shutdown, but it’s still a stopgap that hurts.
Patrick Tucker | December 23, 2024 06:31 PM ET
The military is undercut in various ways by Congress’ failure to pass a defense budget this far into the fiscal year—even if the stopgap funding bill passed in the wee hours of Saturday morning avoided a costlier government shutdown.
The Marine Corps will miss its full authorized strength by the equivalent of a regiment because of the CR, Commandant Gen. Eric Smith said earlier this month.
“We will not meet our end strength goals,” Smith said.
The commandant is just one of many defense officials who have warned about the negative effects of continuing resolutions, which are passed to allow the Defense Department and other federal agencies to continue operating when formal appropriations have not been enacted. They generally hold expenditures at last year’s levels, prevent new program starts, and can snarl defense planning and operations. Congress passed a continuing resolution just before fiscal 2025 began on Oct.1. It expired on Dec. 21 but was replaced by another CR that will expire on March 14.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2024/12/costs-cr-marines-will-miss-full-strength-and-more/401868/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary
