![\"The](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Capitol-Double-Exp.jpg.jpg\")
What\u2019s the likelihood the U.S. government reaches the point in January when 1% cuts start to kick in?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a very high risk of the CR lasting until January. The intent of that 1% was to force people to reach an agreement before they went into the second quarter. We\u2019ll see whether it worked as intended. I\u2019m always hopeful they will come to an agreement and resolve things earlier. But the track record is not necessarily positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How would that 1% cut impact defense?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a very labor-intensive, disruptive effect. It will have a significant effect on readiness and training of the force because that\u2019s one of the first places that it hits. It\u2019ll have an effect on a series of acquisition programs. Keep in mind we\u2019re looking at an environment where China\u2019s capabilities are growing, its inventories of missiles are growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This budget cut would go in the exact wrong direction for what everyone understands to be the pacing threat. You\u2019ll have firms that will exit; you\u2019ll have cost increases on systems because you\u2019re now buying an inefficient quantity; and you\u2019ll have parallel disruptions throughout the Defense Department in training, readiness and flying hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What defense programs would be most acutely affected by a full-year CR?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Defense Department\u2019s budget talks about significant increases in missiles and munitions and in space. What a year-long CR would say is: \u201cWe understand that those are your most pressing challenges. Don\u2019t do anything about them. Act as if you\u2019re going to do what you did last year, which you already know is insufficient, and instead spend the money in the areas that you\u2019ve decided are lower priority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does that affect the Pentagon\u2019s effort to bolster munitions capacity and recover its stockpiles, particularly after nearly two years of arming Ukraine?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
It creates a real problem. The conflict in Ukraine showed us what wartime consumption looked like. The U.S. defense-industrial base was sized to peacetime consumption \u2014 for training purposes or to replace one retiring generation with another. It shows you that what we currently buy is <\/b>not the quantity the U.S. would need if it were involved in a conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The department looked at the budget and said, \u201cWe need to be better positioned with long-range anti-ship missiles, precision-strike missiles, those types of platforms [if a conflict erupted],\u201d and it asked for an increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A long CR would say: \u201cWe\u2019re going to extend and perpetuate a shortfall in the very munitions that we believe we need for the security of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[That also harms] your ability to deter \u2014 to convince somebody not to pick a conflict with you \u2014 because you\u2019re showing them you have a weakness that you\u2019re unable to close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you think of new House Speaker Mike Johnson\u2019s chances of helping Congress avoid a long-term CR?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have optimism that, having been selected by the full range of the Republican Party, he has a level of unity to be able to move bills, negotiate, and try to get things back into regular order that the GOP did not have when it was leaderless [following the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy] or when different [factions] were in conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal is to try individually negotiating the appropriations bills. The return to regular order is not a bad thing. The question is whether people can reach solutions that are right for the country, can move through the House and the Senate, and get signed into law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I spoke at the 2017 Defense News Conference, and this was the subject. It\u2019s a little bit sad that we are having the exact same conversation, with all of the same challenges and problems. \u201cGroundhog Day\u201d was a really funny movie, but it\u2019s not the way you run the Department of Defense or our nation\u2019s security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How do temporary spending measures impact military suppliers? We ask that and more of the Pentagon\u2019s former comptroller.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":118365,"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":13,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3303],"class_list":["post-36939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"XXGXKUKSNFBYHLBOCZ2HNIBDAQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/outlook\/2023\/11\/14\/ndias-norquist-explains-the-harm-of-a-continuing-resolution\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1770866414.jpg.jpg\")