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.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
