Pentagon Forced to Divert Funds to Pay for Middle East Deployments Due to Congressional Budget Impasse
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House Speaker Johnson's stopgap funding bill freezes Pentagon spending, forcing it to divert readiness funds to pay for Middle East troop movements.
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The Pentagon hasn't released a cost estimate but the U.S. support for Israel in the conflict is expected to be high.
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Lawmakers must still pass a defense appropriations bill to provide funding relief, but partisan disagreements make progress unlikely.
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The Pentagon is preparing guidance to dramatically slow spending on Jan. 1 if there's no budget deal, which would damage readiness.
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Military leaders warn an unprecedented full-year continuing resolution would "historically costly" by misaligning billions in funding.