McConnell Comments on the CR

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement today on government funding:

"Government shutdowns mean pain for the American people and political consequences for Congress. I will vote, as I have repeatedly, to avoid such a disastrous outcome.

"But even in averting a shutdown - in meeting the bare minimum of the expectations of our office - Congress must be honest with the taxpayers who entrust us with providing for the common defense. This week, the price of keeping the lights on will be to consign the Department of Defense to topline funding even lower than President Biden's last defense budget request.

"As I have warned publicly, a truly clean continuing resolution for defense would do real, immediate, and measurable harm to the U.S. military's readiness and lethality. It would force the armed services to meet tomorrow's challenges with yesterday's budget. Fortunately for the national defense, this is not a clean CR. I am grateful that, with Leader Thune and Senator Collins' help, we forestalled the worst impacts of such an outcome by securing new start authority, needed flexibility, and additional resources beyond the Biden FY24 topline. But this measure still falls well short of meeting the U.S. military's growing needs.

"Punting the responsibilities of new full-year appropriations for an entire year also makes Congress' own job harder down the road. It means that the task before us this fall will entail even greater requirements and steeper costs. Under this continuing resolution, governed by an outdated budget topline, more and more of Congress' authority to set defense spending priorities is crowded out by these rising mandatory and operational costs.

"Budget reconciliation, for its part, is only a supplement to steady, annual appropriations - not a substitute. This CR represents a missed opportunity to make those overdue, full-year investments in rebuilding our national defense. The next opportunity to deliver on our responsibility to provide for the common defense will require that the Administration use its FY26 budget request to assess growing threats, requirements, and costs with clear eyes and engage defense appropriators to ensure that they respect Congressional intent in the obligation of funds provided by this CR.

"Restoring peace through strength is an urgent priority. And the longer we wait to get serious about it, the more expensive it becomes. The Administration and Congress must come quickly to terms with the fact that rebuilding the national defense requires more of us than we have thus far managed to give."

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