{"id":21134,"date":"2018-01-12T20:30:33","date_gmt":"2018-01-12T20:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/01\/12\/shutdown-clouds-gathering-but-paul-ryans-upbeat\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:54:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:54:20","slug":"shutdown-clouds-gathering-but-paul-ryans-upbeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/01\/12\/shutdown-clouds-gathering-but-paul-ryans-upbeat\/","title":{"rendered":"Shutdown clouds gathering, but Paul Ryan’s upbeat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday that Congress will likely have to pass another stopgap measure to avoid a government shutdown and buy time for more 2018 spending negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just days ago, there seemed to be growing support for completing a two-year spending deal by Jan. 19, when the current continuing resolution funding mechanism expires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But those high-level talks were roiled by President Donald Trump\u2019s vulgar comments to describe Haiti and Africa, during a White House meeting with lawmakers. Ryan called the comments, \u201cvery unfortunate, unhelpful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To boot, pro-defense lawmakers, who say short-term spending bills damage the military, are threatening to vote against another stopgap bill without a long-term deal in hand to boost the defense spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the new continuing resolution does pass, it would be the fourth, almost four months into fiscal 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, in an interview Friday in his home state, Wisconsin, Ryan maintained there would be no government shutdown. Talks to ease statutory budget caps \u2014 wherein Democrats want any defense increase matched on the non-defense side \u2014 are advancing, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there will be,\u201d a government shutdown, Ryan said. \u201cI think we\u2019re making progress with what we call the caps deal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan said he is driven by concern for the military, whose planning and operations are disrupted by unstable budgeting. Under a CR, the military may continue to spend at the previous year\u2019s level, but it\u2019s barred from starting new acquisitions programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy personal concern in this area is our Air Force is as small as it\u2019s ever been, half our Navy planes can\u2019t fly, only about ten of our Army combat brigade teams are combat ready,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cWe are seeing more and more training accidents and fatalities because of our military funding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan acknowledged last year\u2019s fatal collisions involving the Navy\u2019s U.S.S. John McCain and U.S.S. Fitzgerald, saying, \u201cThis is becoming a fairly dire thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To avoid a Christmas shutdown, House GOP leadership had to convince hawkish lawmakers, who argue the ongoing budget saga is harming military readiness, to vote for the last CR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Democrats largely withheld their votes from the CR as leverage on on immigration, forcing GOP leaders to unify their unruly caucus.<\/p>\n\n\n\t