By Emelie Rutherford
With temporary Defense Department spending set to expire Dec. 18, House lawmakers could potentially pass the delayed FY ’10 defense appropriations bill next week.
If the Pentagon spending measure is not approved by both chambers of Congress and President Barack Obama by the end of next week, another continuing resolution temporarily extending the FY ’10 Pentagon budget at FY ’09 levels will be needed. Because FY ’10 began Oct. 1, military spending has been covered since then under a temporary resolution that runs through Dec. 18.
While the policy-setting defense authorization bill for FY ’10 has been signed into law, final congressional approval of the money-dictation appropriations measure has been stalled.
House Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) has repeatedly said lawmakers will move faster on the defense appropriations measure if Pentagon leaders become more vocal in calling for the legislation’s passage.
Congressional aides said yesterday pressure to pass the bill is likely now increasing. The defense appropriations bill also includes war funding for FY ’10; now that Obama announced last week 30,000 more U.S. troops will deploy to Afghanistan, that initial war funding is needed, aides said.
The Pentagon requested $130 billion in FY ’10 war funds, though congressional and Pentagon officials have said an additional supplemental war-funding bill will be needed for the 30,000 additional troops.
Lawmakers have considered tacking on to the base defense appropriations measure unrelated legislation, including a debt-limit increase.
Congressional sources said House Democrats would like to pass the seven unapproved FY ’10 appropriations bills, including the one for the Pentagon, this week and next week.
Staff of the House and Senate appropriations committees have already resolved many differences between the differing defense bills that each chamber already passed; however, an official conference committee has not met to craft a final bill requiring each chamber’s approval. The final measure is not expected to fund the VH-71 presidential helicopter, built by Lockheed Martin [LMT], and is likely to include monies for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter second engine, developed by General Electric [GE] and Rolls-Royce.