Congressional inaction raises costs and damages national defense

Ask any high school student about the most basic job of members of Congress and they should know the answer is to pass legislation to fund the government. Unfortunately, legislators have been earning a failing grade for performing this simple core function.

Members of Congress are supposed to pass the 12 appropriations bills that fund the federal government by Oct. 1, the start of each fiscal year, and on that date in 2023, they failed to do so for the 27th consecutive year.  This ineptitude has been going on for such a long time that Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), the youngest member of Congress, has lived his whole life without Congress passing the spending bills on time. 

President Joe Biden signed the latest continuing resolution (CR) on Jan. 19, 2024, extending fiscal year (FY) 2024 funding into March 2024. Funding for four of the appropriations bills will expire on March 1, 2024, with the remaining eight expiring on March 8, 2024. If legislators finally pass all the bills in March 2024, they will have done so nearer to the start of FY 2025 than the close of FY 2023. There have been 134 CRs since FY 1997.

This abdication by members of Congress of their most basic job function has a dire impact on the federal government, and nowhere more so than the Department of Defense (DOD), where multi-year contracts are essential to providing proper and timely procurement for weapons systems and other equipment needed to give warfighters the tools they need to protect national security.

The most damaging impact of CRs on the DOD is likely that they make it impossible to begin new programs. This means funding for any new weapons systems are ground to a “screeching halt,” as characterized by Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on Nov. 13, 2023. There are 156 new initiatives at the DOD would be delayed as a result of a full-year CR, including half of the Navy’s six shipbuilding programs, and restocking weapons that were supplied to Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine.

The short-term bills neutralize the government’s significant buying power across every agency, as inconsistent and uncertain payments force them to purchase fewer items at a time rather than paying in advance for bulk orders at lower prices. Secretary Kendall stated in a Nov. 30, 2023, letter to Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) that his service’s buying power alone would be reduced by as much as $13 billion by a full-year CR.

Stopgap funding measures hurt competition among defense firms contracting with the federal government. Contractors who previously negotiated an agreement may face a stop-work order during a CR as funding runs dry. Those firms might be forced to lay off workers, who would then need to be replaced when funding is approved by Congress and work can begin again. As a result, the incentives for competing for contracts from the federal government are reduced.

The repeated use of CRs is the most striking example of the culture of poor governance that has taken root in Congress. Stopgap funding bills have become the rule rather than the exception. In addition to FY 1997, legislators passed the appropriations bills on time in only three instances in the half-century since the 1974 Budget and Impoundment Control Act was signed into law with the intent of improving the budget process: FYs 1977, 1989, and 1995. Tardy approval of the bills has been achieved by Democrats and Republicans under divided and unified control over the House, Senate, and White House, collegial bipartisanship, and hyper partisanship.

The inability to adhere to the most basic guidelines of the budget process is likely the chief driver of Congress’ unpopularity among the public. The Gallup Poll conducted in January 2024 found approval of Congress is at 15 percent, and disapproval is at 79 percent. 

The message from the public is clear: Congress should pass the FY 2024 appropriations bills as soon as possible and complete the FY 2025 process on time. Failing to do so will not only be a continuation of confounding congressional ineptitude but also contribute to the critical security climate that the nation currently faces.

Sean Kennedy is director of research at Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW).