Congress will land on $833B defense budget—and a CR of unknown length, top HASC lawmaker says

Congress will settle on a $833 billion defense spending topline for fiscal 2025, one House leader says. But in typical fashion, it won’t be on time—so lawmakers are readying a budget extension.

“It looks like there's going to be another continuing resolution that will come up next week, probably the middle of next week. The debate has been: how long should that CR go?” Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday at a Defense News event. 

Translated, that means the budget won’t be passed before the start of the new fiscal year—Oct. 1—so Congress will temporarily fund the Defense Department at 2024 levels for an as-yet-undetermined time. Since it’s an election year, lawmakers may well punt the final decisions on 2025 spending until a new Congress has taken office in January.

Continuing resolutions are a reality, but Wittman said they are “the worst way for us to be able to manage the defense enterprise.” Pentagon officials regularly bemoan the costs of a continuing resolution, which costs the department billions in buying power and prevents the services from starting new initiatives.  

Lawmakers, now returning from August recess, have much to negotiate in both the defense authorization and appropriations bills. The full Senate has yet to approve its versions, which differ on both policy provisions and the overall top line from the House versions largely crafted by GOP lawmakers. 

Despite many differences, and whether it happens in the 118th Congress or 119th, Wittman said lawmakers will settle on $833 billion for the topline, which falls in line with the requirements of last year’s Fiscal Responsibility Act. 

The Pentagon “should be able to do most of the things that it needs to do with that number,” he  said. “I think that's the number you're actually going to have to live with.”

But Wittman also said lawmakers might consider adding more funding later in fiscal 2025. 

Pentagon officials have signaled that another supplemental funding package will be needed if wars in Europe and the Middle East continue. Congress passed a $95 billion supplemental package earlier this year to fund weapons for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and support Indo Pacific security needs.  

The chance of Congress passing another supplemental bill depends on what’s in it, Wittman said, but cautioned that it wouldn’t happen anytime soon because getting it through a lame duck Congress is a “complicated process.”

“I think if it was very focused, and there was an explanation about why it was critical to this nation, in relation to the threat from China or Russia or otherwise, it might have a chance. I think anything that gets spread wider than that really has a difficult time, especially in relation to the whole debate that took place with the FRA and the issue about managing this nation's spending,” Wittman said.