WASHINGTON – The ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee is "not optimistic" that Congress will come to a budget agreement before the continuing resolution ends on April 28.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wa., expressed doubts that the House, in particular, would be able to break through partisan gridlock in order to ensure that the government is funded under regular appropriations. The nation has been operating under a continuing resolution since the start of the fiscal year, which locks in funding at previous year levels.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Norwegian-American Defense Industry/Homeland Security Council (NADIC), Smith blamed his Republican colleagues for the impasse, saying, "I think there is a significant problem right now with the Republican majority in the House, in that for the last eight years they have made their living off of blaming president Obama for everything and doing nothing."
He also struck out at Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who last week said he did not want President Donald Trump to work with Democrats on a new health care bill.
"Do they have 218 Republican votes to do anything? Because Paul Ryan said the other day they ain’t talking to us. I doubt it," Smith said. "Because they like to vote no. It’s what they do. We saw it on the healthcare bill.
"I’m not optimistic. I think we’re going to go through another awkward week or two," he continued. "As to how this plays out, this is unprecedented in my rather extensive legislative career."
On Wednesday, the chiefs of staff for the military services testified to Congress that if the government operates under a CR for the rest of 2017, it would prove catastrophic – or in the words of Gen. Mark Milley, the Army chief, "will increase risk to the nation and ultimately result in dead Americans on a future battlefield."
"The world is more dangerous by the day," Milley said. "Pass a budget."
Joe Gould in Washington contributed to this report
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Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.
