Defense Budget Alert

The Navy has spent $300 million in Defense Production Act funding over the past three months to strengthen its supply chains, according to the service's acquisition executive.

House Democrats have crafted a stopgap spending measure that allows the Pentagon an exemption from normal restrictions so it can award contracts for the Navy's first two Columbia-class submarines.

As the Space Force prepares for the likelihood of a continuing resolution, the service chief Gen. John Raymond said this week he's concerned about programmatic impacts, operations and maintenance shortfalls and the transfer of space accounts from the Air Force to the Space Force.

The White House is prioritizing the need to fund two Columbia-class submarines and restructure the Space Force in the event lawmakers cannot agree to pass regular appropriations bills and are forced to pass a stopgap spending measure, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.

U.S. Special Operations Command purchased and fielded $815 million worth of military gear "without verifying that the equipment meets user needs," according to a Defense Department inspector general report on an audit spanning two years.

The White House is threatening President Trump will veto a House minibus bill that includes fiscal year 2021 defense funding over a wide range of provisions, including new restrictions on the Pentagon's reprogramming authority.

Senate Republicans have released their proposal for a fourth round of COVID-19 legislation that includes $11 billion for defense contractor reimbursements, as well as billions more for the Defense Department to purchase new weapon systems.

The Defense Department has obligated 92% of the $3.8 billion in fiscal year 2020 procurement funding that was reprogrammed to construct a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a DOD spokesman.

Powerful House appropriators want to eliminate the Pentagon's controversial Overseas Contingency Operations account and return the department to annual supplemental funding requests, potentially sending defense officials scrambling to fill multibillion-dollar budget holes, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.