From left, Adm. James Kilby, vice chief of naval operations; Gen. Christopher Mahoney, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps; Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of space operations; and Lt. Gen. Adrian Spain, Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations, prepare to testify Wednesday, March 12, 2025, during a meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Senior service leaders said Wednesday that they will be significantly challenged by a stopgap spending bill that the Senate plans to vote on this week to fund the government through Sept. 30 and avoid a shutdown.
The bill includes a $6 billion increase for the military but largely keeps the same spending levels as last year because lawmakers could not agree on appropriations for fiscal 2025, which began Oct. 1.
The resulting temporary funding extension, known as a continuing resolution, will force the military services to operate with substantially less money than they expected, causing disruptions in programs and modernization efforts, according to service leaders.
“The Navy will need to make hard choices this year if we are operating under a full-year continuing resolution,” Adm. James Kilby, vice chief of naval operations, said in testimony before a subpanel of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
He said he expects to see slowed progress in shipbuilding, getting new weapons and equipment to modernize the Navy’s fleet and maintaining the service’s momentum in recruiting. The maintenance schedules for 11 ships are also at risk, he said.
Gen. James Mingus, vice chief of staff of the Army, said the service will be impacted but “the degree and the severity is unknown” because the Defense Department has never had to operate under a continuing resolution that spanned an entire fiscal year.
The House narrowly passed the yearlong continuing resolution Tuesday and then adjourned for the remainder of the week, leaving the Senate with the option of passing the same legislation or facing a government shutdown at midnight Friday.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., addresses military officials on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, during a meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., blasted the House on Wednesday for “skipping town on a Tuesday” and forcing senators to accept either a “half-assed” funding measure that will harm the military or a “catastrophic” shutdown.
Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he could not vote for the stopgap funding bill as it is if Republicans were not also working on separate legislation to beef up defense spending.
Senate Republicans hope to infuse an additional $150 billion into the military through a major spending and cost-cutting package targeting President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda this year.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, speaks to military officials on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, during a hearing. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Wicker last year advocated for increasing the 2025 defense budget by $25 billion. He expressed frustration Wednesday that the military would see just a $6 billion increase under the continuing resolution, saying it does not provide adequate support for the military to deter adversaries.
Still, he said he would vote for the funding extension because the alternative is “so unpalatable, so dangerous.”
Service leaders said they could potentially fill some funding gaps by moving money in different accounts, but it could mean having to “rob from one account to pay for another,” said Gen. Christopher Mahoney, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps.
“Examples might be inflation that outpaces the plus-up, pay raises that were not planned for or budgeted, but are must-pay bills — that money will come from somewhere,” he said.
Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of space operations, said the continuing resolution will be a “huge challenge” for the Space Force to manage.
“It’s very, very inefficient, it does impact us, especially because we are the smallest force with the smallest budget,” he said. “Any churn in our budget is a huge hit to us.”
It was unclear Wednesday when or how the Senate would vote on the House-passed stopgap bill.
Nearly all 53 Senate Republicans are expected to back the bill, but the legislation requires 60 votes to pass, meaning some Democrats will need to vote for it to avert a government shutdown.
