CR Blues

Echoing comments made by senior Defense Department officials in recent weeks, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told reporters today that department leaders are in discussions with Congress on the effects of a year-long continuing resolution if a defense appropriations bill for fiscal year 2011 is not passed.

"I know that [Defense] Secretary [Robert] Gates, Bob Hale, the comptroller of the Pentagon, and all of the services are actively engaged [with Congress] in talking about this and explaining what the repercussions are of operating under the traditional continuing resolution," he said following an event in Washington.

Mabus said a continuing resolution, which caps spending at 2010 levels and bans any new starts, "presents some real issues for DOD as a whole," and "those are going to have some real impacts on the Navy and on DOD going forward."

The federal government is operating under a continuing resolution passed by Congress late last month. That resolution expires March 4 and Congress will have to either pass an omnibus appropriations bill before that date or extend the continuing resolution.

Last week, InsideDefense.com reported that the Pentagon is finalizing contingency plans for how to endure under a continuing resolution that would last the balance of FY-11. Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter has asked the service procurement chiefs to identify which programs would be affected if Congress extends the stopgap spending measure beyond March 4 instead of passing the appropriations bill.