{"id":32748,"date":"2021-04-13T17:35:53","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T17:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/13\/house-armed-services-chair-deeply-concerned-by-white-house-budget-delays\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:02:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:02:34","slug":"house-armed-services-chair-deeply-concerned-by-white-house-budget-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/budget\/2021\/04\/13\/house-armed-services-chair-deeply-concerned-by-white-house-budget-delays\/","title":{"rendered":"House Armed Services chair \u2018deeply concerned\u2019 by White House budget delays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 The Democratic chairman of the House Armed Services Committee blasted the White House on Tuesday for \u201cdragging their feet\u201d on the federal budget, urging its release by May 10 to avoid a continuing resolution<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am deeply concerned about the Biden administration dragging their feet on getting us the damn budget,\u201d Rep. Adam Smith of Washington said at a Ronald Reagan Institute event<\/a>, noting that the White House is prioritizing pandemic relief and infrastructure spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am really worried if we get into mid- to late May and we don\u2019t have the specific budget numbers, then you\u2019re guaranteed a continuing resolution; we don\u2019t have time to do our job,\u201d Smith warned. \u201cShout it from the rafters. I can\u2019t get the White House to take my calls on this one. Just send it to us. We need it in order to pass a budget and move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Smith painted an unusual picture of dysfunction there: Officials at the White House budget office want numbers too, but they are stalled by White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain and the Cabinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New administrations often roll out their budget requests late in their first year, but this year\u2019s planning has been particularly difficult for Biden administration officials, they say, because the Trump administration blocked the incoming administration from accessing budget documents until just before the inauguration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surprising public spat comes as the White House delayed releasing President Joe Biden\u2019s detailed request until later in the spring, likely forcing Congress to pass stopgap funding to prevent a government shutdown this fall. Biden\u2019s fiscal 2022 top-line request<\/a> last week had $753 billion for national defense, a 1.6 percent increase over fiscal 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuing resolutions have become the norm, but they\u2019re unpopular with the Pentagon and defense industry because they ban new-start defense programs, hinder planning and increase costs. Speaking at the same event, the National Defense Industrial Association\u2019s chief executive, Hawk Carslile, called for a two-year budget deal before midterm politics heat up and make it harder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compounding the uncertainty, the statutory budget caps that have shaped Washington\u2019s debates for years are newly expired, meaning \u201cthis is the wild, Wild West, fiscally speaking,\u201d the American Enterprise Institute\u2019s Mackenzie Eaglen said at the Reagan event.<\/p>\n\n\n\t