Ryan hints at short CR extension, but seeks end-of-year deal

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said today Congress intends to pass a final fiscal year 2018 appropriations package before the end of the calendar year, but acknowledged doing so might necessitate a short extension of the stopgap continuing resolution under which the federal government has operated since Oct. 1.

Ryan, who spoke during the weekly GOP leadership press briefing on Capitol Hill, noted the adverse impact a long-term CR would have on the Defense Department.

"We're not talking about going into next year," he said. "We're talking about getting it done this year for many reasons, the military chief among them."

The matter is complicated by the tight congressional schedule and the GOP's focus on passing ambitious tax reform legislation.

The current CR expires Dec. 8, but Ryan said "we might need a little more time to give the appropriators time to write their bill."

The CR, which locks DOD spending at FY-17 levels and prohibits new-start programs and production increases, has drawn opposition from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other senior Pentagon officials.

Robert Daigle, director of the cost assessment and program evaluation office, recently said DOD has learned to live with short-term CRs, but cautioned that an extension of 30 to 60 days would have dire consequences for the department.

"The department having been under CRs year after year after year has systematically moved the most debilitating parts of the CR into January," he said. "We don't do a lot of contract renewals in the first quarter of the year. We have to adjust our internal practices accordingly. Again, not ideal. The business operations have adjusted. If we have a second CR . . . I will be saying very different things. That's going to get pretty bad pretty quickly."

Republicans and Democrats, meanwhile, are at odds over how to increase FY-18 spending above caps mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act.

The BCA limits base defense spending to $549 billion, but the House and Senate are debating a defense authorization bill that would provide $626 billion in base defense funding, as well as $65.7 billion for DOD's Overseas Contingency Operations account.

Democrats have said they will insist on "parity" between any increases in defense and non-defense spending.