{"id":20223,"date":"2019-04-12T13:11:56","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T13:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/12\/is-it-already-time-to-worry-about-the-pentagon-budget\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:48:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:48:03","slug":"is-it-already-time-to-worry-about-the-pentagon-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/04\/12\/is-it-already-time-to-worry-about-the-pentagon-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it already time to worry about the Pentagon budget?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 With six months before the first budget deadline, it may be already time to panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers\u2019 worries the budget fight <\/a>between President Donald Trump and Democrats will cause a deadlock were on full display this week. If the two sides can\u2019t reach a deal to ease statutory budget caps, a stopgap continuing resolution, or CR, could freeze the Pentagon\u2019s budget at last year\u2019s level, or leave the department in a worse state \u2014 automatic sequestration cuts could slash its budget by $71 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Congress\u2019 spring recess, Democrats and Republicans must quickly work to settle sharp disagreements over spending for the Pentagon, domestic programs and the president\u2019s wall at the southern border<\/a>. They have until Oct. 1 to avoid a continuing resolution and until January to avoid sequestration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican lawmakers have been using budget hearings to warn that unless negotiations get into high gear, there\u2019s potential to erase the military readiness gains enabled by the last two years of strong defense budgets. While common at this point in the budget cycle, the potential audiences for that message this time around will range from left-leaning Democrats to the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\t