By C. Todd Lopez
WASHINGTON (Nov. 16, 2023) -- The U.S. Senate today sent forward to the president a bill that funds the government -- including the Defense Department -- through early 2024. The bill will ensure that the department can continue operating, and that service members will continue to get paid through the holiday season, said the deputy Pentagon press secretary.
"Congress [has] avoided a government shutdown by passing the bipartisan continuing resolution," said Sabrina Singh, during a briefing this afternoon at the Pentagon. "This short-term CR will ensure that our troops and civilian workforce will be paid through the holidays."
While the additional funding is good news for service members in the short term, Singh said that what the department needs is the financial stability that comes with a full appropriation for fiscal year 2024.
"The department continues to urge Congress to pass a full-year appropriations, which is the best thing that Congress can do for our national defense," she said. "As we have long made clear, operating under a short-term continuing resolution hamstrings the department's people and our programs and undermines both our national security and competitiveness."
The DOD's budget request for fiscal year 2024 was sent by the president to Congress in March and has not yet been signed into law. Until a funding bill for FY 2024 is signed into law, the department is limited in how it operates.
Singh also urged Congress to pass the department's supplemental funding requests which she said allow it to continue supporting Ukraine and Israel, which also provide humanitarian assistance across the globe, and which makes critical investments in the Indo-Pacific.
"The supplemental [funding request] doesn't just meet today's urgent challenges, but also invests in our industrial base here at home," Singh said. "As we send munitions from our stockpiles, the money to replenish our supplies invests in American industry and American workers. These investments will mean greater prosperity at home and greater security abroad."
