With 151 House Republicans who voted to shut down the government yesterday and opposed the short-term budget, or Continuing Resolution, uncertainty and unease are building across America’s armed services as a new deadline of December 11 looms over vital national security funding. Republicans in Congress also have ignored calls from Defense Secretary Ash Carter and military leaders on the troubling direction of the Republican defense bill. Secretary Carter is recommending a veto of the typically bipartisan national defense bill over Republican budget gimmicks that would weaken America’s national security. Such uncertainty directly impacts all military services and missions, including the vital operations of U.S. Central Command and Special Operations Command that are headquartered at MacDill AFB in Tampa, Fla.

“Republican leaders shouldn’t pat themselves on the back for passing a short-term funding bill with only a few hours remaining on the last day of the fiscal year,” said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14). “Republicans have shirked their primary responsibility of crafting a budget that works for the American people while a national transportation bill and jobs legislation also continue to languish.”

In a recent letter to congressional leaders, U.S. Rep. Castor highlighted the uncertainty created for the entire Tampa Bay region, especially the defense community by a shutdown or even a short-term CR, as well as Republicans’ use of the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) emergency war account to increase defense spending outside of agreed-to limits. However, the OCO fund was created for emergency military operations for the War in Afghanistan and cannot fund daily military operations. Such a blatant violation of the Budget Control Act is likely to bring a presidential veto. “It’s the worst of all worlds. Republicans bust the budget ceiling, increase the deficit and fail to fund the military’s basic needs,” U.S. Rep. Castor said. 

In her letter, U.S. Rep. Castor advised: “For example, at CENTCOM, it is difficult to cement the strategic military collaborations in the Middle East if America cannot commit the resources and demonstrate follow-though on its plans.

“Reliance on OCO also complicates CENTCOM’s and SOCOM’s operations.”

The OCO fund was created for emergency military operations for the War in Afghanistan and cannot be used for spending on daily military operations, such as readiness training.

“Using OCO is a violation of the Budget Control Act. It is likely to bring a presidential veto and create uncertainty for near-term readiness and the well-being of our troops,” said U.S. Rep. Castor, a member of the powerful Budget Committee.

“I know you would agree that we want our military commanders and servicemembers focused on their missions and not congressional budget fights,” U.S. Rep. Castor’s letter continued.  In addition, short-term funding is particularly hurtful to Tampa Bay because in addition to military investments, the region depends on research, education and transportation investments  for economic growth – all affected by the stops and starts of budget fights and the illogical and intractable sequester caps.

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