{"id":44212,"date":"2018-12-18T14:55:46","date_gmt":"2018-12-18T14:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/18\/the-pentagon-still-doesnt-know-how-much-money-its-getting-for-fy20-heres-why-that-matters-long-term\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:26:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:26:37","slug":"the-pentagon-still-doesnt-know-how-much-money-its-getting-for-fy20-heres-why-that-matters-long-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/12\/18\/the-pentagon-still-doesnt-know-how-much-money-its-getting-for-fy20-heres-why-that-matters-long-term\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pentagon still doesn\u2019t know how much money it\u2019s getting for FY20. Here\u2019s why that matters long term."},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=e5b8b3cc-3002-4a41-a793-445682bc32bb\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-e5b8b3cc-3002-4a41-a793-445682bc32bb.jpg\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Defense Secretary Jim Mattis explains his thoughts on the defense budget as the White House is looking to cut money from the FY2020 defense budget.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The Pentagon is missing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/11\/30\/top-defense-republicans-blast-trumps-700-billion-military-budget-as-dangerous\/\" target=_blank>solid budget top-line figure<\/a> as it races to finalize its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2017\/12\/22\/pentagon-expects-on-time-budget-for-2019-but-trumps-masterpiece-will-be-in-2020\/\" target=_blank>fiscal 2020<\/a> budget request \u2014 and while the department still expects the budget to be released on time next year, the impacts of the budget back-and-forth may echo for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe continue to work with [the Office of Management and Budget] on a top-line number,\u201d department spokesman Chris Sherwood told reporters at the building Monday. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a top-line number yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later that day, Ellen Lord, the Pentagon\u2019s undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, underlined that point, saying: \u201cWe\u2019ve worked on a range of top lines, so all of the information is in, and we\u2019re waiting to hear back. And once the president says what the budget is, we will be right there with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The department had been planning for most of the year to a $733 billion top-line figure, until the moment at an October Cabinet meeting when President Donald Trump announced the figure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2018\/10\/26\/its-official-dod-told-to-take-cut-with-fy20-budget\/\" target=_blank>would be $700 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2018\/12\/17\/how-trumps-new-chief-of-staff-can-impact-the-fy20-defense-plan\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18065565875212.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">How Trump\u2019s new chief of staff can impact the FY20 defense plan<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Mick Mulvaney, a budget hawk, will now have greater access to President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That number, delivered close to the planned budget finalization date of Dec. 1, sent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2018\/11\/16\/services-to-deliver-proposed-budgets-monday-what-will-they-cut\/\" target=\"_blank\">planners into a frenzy<\/a> as they attempted to develop a pair of budget offerings matched to both levels. The situation changed again when, following a meeting with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and congressional defense leaders, Trump reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/12\/10\/trump-changes-his-mind-again-on-military-spending-now-wants-a-big-boost-next-year\/\" target=\"_blank\">boosted the budget to $750 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even without a final figure in hand, the department continues to drive toward a Feb. 4 planned release date of the budget. And while the Pentagon is certainly not going to complain about a budget increase, the yo-yo effect naturally has impacts on both the long-term planning process and the people who have to create the annual budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gordon Adams, a budget expert who spent several years overseeing defense budget planning during the Clinton administration, is skeptical that the $750 billion figure will come to fruition given the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2018\/12\/11\/democrats-scoff-at-gops-shifting-defense-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\">opposition from Democrats in Congress<\/a> and the existence of the Budget Control Act. But he said he doesn\u2019t envy the planning team that has to keep up with the back-and-forth figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese guys have planned to $733 billion, and they were busy. It\u2019s pretty disruptive this late in the game to figure out what you will pull out to get to $700 billion. It\u2019s virtually impossible to fill the bucket to $750 billion in any meaningful way,\u201d Adams said. \u201cAs a planner, you\u2019re whipsawed because you have to produce paper. You have to produce some justification of the number. Plus, $50 billion is a big whipsaw \u2014 even by Pentagon standards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMajor changes late in process add work and leave less time for careful review,\u201d added Bob Hale, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2016\/12\/14\/former-dod-comptroller-hale-offers-cost-cutting-reform-agenda\/\" target=\"_blank\">former Pentagon comptroller<\/a> and now senior executive adviser at Booz Allen Hamilton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese late adds mean a lot of work for resource management people,\u201d Hale said. \u201cI used to call the comptroller job a \u2018Grinch job\u2019 because the pace was frenetic when everyone else was celebrating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Susanna Blume, a former Pentagon official <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/opinion\/2018\/09\/20\/numbers-game-how-the-air-force-is-following-the-army-and-navys-bad-example\/\" target=\"_blank\">now with the Center for a New American Security<\/a>, agreed there is probably a \u201chigh\u201d level of chaos in the budget offices with the swings. But, she said, there is a way to deal with it using work that has been done for most of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think at this stage in the game, it\u2019s more likely that they\u2019re doing excursions from the baseline rather than building a totally separate submission from the ground up,\u201d she said. \u201cThe former is easier than the latter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/11\/27\/commission-report-emerges-as-tool-for-budget-hawks-in-congress\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Trump.jpg_fda98e.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Commission report emerges as tool for budget hawks in Congress<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Pro-defense lawmakers are using a report full of dire conclusions as a tool to argue for increased budgets.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>What happens next?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hale noted that the timing of the dollar adjustment means the services will have \u201conly a little time\u201d to respond to the changes, with OSD then guiding what does and doesn\u2019t make the cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As to what might win out in a budget increase, \u201cI suspect that adds will favor R&amp;D and procurement, but a rising tide always tends to lift all boats \u2014 at least a little,\u201d Hale said. \u201cIt is also possible that OMB will push for using some of the added funds above $733 billion to transfer some base-budget functions now funded in [overseas contingency operations] back into the base.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adams raised concerns that the services will look at this jump as the new norm, instead of an irregularity, and bake in assumptions that can\u2019t stand up to reality in the five-year outlook known as the Future Years Defense Program, or FYDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe danger in a $750 billion number \u2014 always \u2014 is the services expect that number to be real, and over time they start planning out a FYDP to match the number,&#8221; Adams said. \u201cThat\u2019s where you get in real trouble. If this number is just mythological, and you write a FYDP to conform to that number, your out-year assumptions are shot to hell. And that\u2019s a planners\u2019 nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/12\/06\/inhofe-urging-trump-to-boost-defense-sees-no-strategic-rationale-for-cuts\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635672855474106731-478448395jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Inhofe \u2018urging\u2019 Trump to boost defense, sees \u2018no strategic rationale\u2019 for cuts<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">\u201cI\u2019m urging the president to consider\u201d approving a \u201cstrategy-driven budget,\u201d Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Jim Inhofe told an audience at National Defense University.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The budget experts all agreed there is a natural back-and-forth that happens during every budget cycle: The Pentagon pushes for more funding, OMB pushes back and the president makes the final decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe fight in the White House is always about the top line \u2014 always, always, always,\u201d Adams said. \u201cThat\u2019s the one issue that always gets held over to the last minute. It\u2019s the one issue the president eventually gets involved in. Every other issue slides by at the lower level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What has set this year apart has been the public nature of those talks \u2014 driven first by Trump\u2019s statement in front of cameras that defense would take a cut, and then by a cavalcade of leaks following the president\u2019s meeting with Mattis and the congressmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGenerally, these negotiations would happen behind closed doors in order to preserve decision space for the president in his budget request,\u201d Blume noted. \u201cHowever, President Trump opened the door to a public discussion by publicly announcing a potential reduction to $700 billion, and the secretary and other senior officers and defense officials have followed his example in making public comments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the people inside the building, there is hope the back-and-forth will lead to a dollar figure that sticks \u2014 sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the meantime, Lord perhaps summed up the Pentagon\u2019s position best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe listen to the president, and we respond to the White House,\u201d she said. \u201cOther than that, it\u2019s interesting, but irrelevant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Joe Gould in Washington contributed to this report. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The budget was down, then it was up. And someone has to keep track of all this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":38902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":68,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,12,25,68],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3323],"class_list":["post-44212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"EYTK5Z73IBG4VKVEEDSFJXULOY","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/budget\/2018\/12\/18\/the-pentagon-still-doesnt-know-how-much-money-its-getting-for-fy20-heres-why-that-matters-long-term\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Pentagon still doesn\u2019t know how much money it\u2019s getting for FY20. Here\u2019s why that matters long term. - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The budget was down, then it was up. And someone has to keep track of all this.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Pentagon still doesn\u2019t know how much money it\u2019s getting for FY20. Here\u2019s why that matters long term.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The budget was down, then it was up. And someone has to keep track of all this.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/12\/18\/the-pentagon-still-doesnt-know-how-much-money-its-getting-for-fy20-heres-why-that-matters-long-term\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-18T14:55:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T23:26:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aaron Mehta\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Aaron Mehta\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/18\\\/the-pentagon-still-doesnt-know-how-much-money-its-getting-for-fy20-heres-why-that-matters-long-term\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/18\\\/the-pentagon-still-doesnt-know-how-much-money-its-getting-for-fy20-heres-why-that-matters-long-term\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"The Pentagon still doesn\u2019t know how much money it\u2019s getting for FY20. 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