Lack of Budget Action Worries Pentagon

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Lack of Budget Action Worries Pentagon
July 16, 2010
Army News Service|by Jim Garamone

WASHINGTON -- Because Congress has yet to pass a supplemental funding bill, the Defense Department must start taking measures to ensure uninterrupted war operations, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today.

If Congress doesn't act on the fiscal 2010 request for supplemental war funding, Defense Department employees may not get paid, Morrell said during a news conference.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is disappointed that Congress did not pass the supplemental spending bill before its Fourth of July break, Morrell told reporters.

"He's very concerned about the predicament that puts us in," he said. "And in order to assure that war operations are not interrupted, the services will now have to begin cash-flowing operating costs for war activities using their base budgets." This means that the services will begin borrowing money from fourth-quarter accounts to pay for current obligations, but even that won't be enough, he added.

"We project that certain Army and Marine Corps accounts will run dry in August," Morrell said. "So we urgently need Congress to pass the supplemental before members leave town for the next break in August."