Senate passes yearlong CR that cuts Pentagon buying power

The Senate voted 54-46 today to pass a yearlong continuing resolution that averts a government shutdown tonight but doesn't keep pace with inflation, thereby reducing Pentagon buying power. The CR, however, contains several provisions that grant the Defense Department financial flexibility.

Unlike past CRs, the current funding patch allows DOD to begin “new-start” programs if they have been included in fiscal year 2025 House and Senate appropriations bills. The department can also work with Congress to reprogram up to $8 billion.

The bill, which would extend government funding through Sept. 30, provides $892.5 billion for national defense in FY-25. The new topline is about $6 billion higher than FY-24 levels but below the $895 billion ceiling set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Mark Cancian, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the below-inflation topline cuts DOD buying power by about $18 billion.

“If the administration does not find ways to add money to the national security budget, then the military would get smaller and weaker,” Cancian said. “Further, the administration will not be able to implement its defense initiatives like Golden Dome national missile defense and shipbuilding expansion.”

Some Republicans, like Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS), are working to make up the loss by increasing defense funding in an upcoming budget reconciliation bill slated to be considered in the coming months.

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, were under pressure to oppose the CR and shut down the government until the GOP negotiates over increases for non-defense spending.

All but one House Democrat voted against the measure when it narrowly passed the lower chamber earlier this week.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), in a Thursday floor speech, said the CR cut vital non-defense programs for the U.S. public, but threw his support behind it to avoid a government shutdown, which he said would be far more costly.

Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told Fox News today that Republicans believe they have enough public support to continue pressuring Democrats.

“The middle of this country, the middle of this electorate wants us to get things done, wants the president to be successful, wants us to make government smaller and more efficient and to modernize it through technology -- and that’s what this is all about,” he said. “But you have to have the government funded in order to do that.”

Earlier today, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who led Democrats’ near-uniform opposition in the House, declined to discuss Schumer’s decision to support the CR.

“Next question,” he said during a press conference.

Though some Democrats argued the CR gives President Trump to much leeway to circumvent Congress on appropriations matters, Schumer said Thursday that a shutdown would give Trump and billionaire advisor Elon Musk “carte blanche to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now.”

"I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country, to minimize the harms to the American people," he said. "Therefore, I will vote to keep the government open and not shut it down."