President Barack Obama on Thursday signed a short-term continuing resolution that will fund the federal government through Dec. 9, 2016. Congress passed the measure on Wednesday, just in time to avert a government shutdown. Air Force leadership has said it could “manage” through a short-term CR, but cautioned that a long-term continuing resolution would reduce the service’s requested budget by $1.3 billion and, in turn, reduce the number of munitions it can buy and reduce funding for at least 60 acquisition projects. Lawmakers will be able to work on a longer term deal after the November election.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
