Week ahead: Shutdown clock ticks down

The deadline to fund the government is only a few days away, leaving the defense community to prepare for the possibility of a shutdown.

While defense officials have said they remain optimistic Congress can pass a funding bill before midnight on Thursday, they have begun preparations in case that doesn’t happen.

A memo sent to all Department of Defense (DOD) staff Friday said the Pentagon would be following the guidelines from the 2013 shutdown, with some updates, in the event that the government isn’t funded on Oct. 1.

{mosads}All military personnel would continue normal duty, according to the memo, but they wouldn’t be paid until Congress approves funding.

With Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announcing Friday he would step down from both the House and Speakership at the end of October, some lawmakers have suggested a shutdown is less likely.

Prior to announcing his resignation, Boehner and his allies had laid out a plan to keep the government open. To placate conservatives, GOP leaders announced they would separately use a fast-track process known as reconciliation to defund Planned Parenthood.

But whether that compromise will be enough to get a short-term funding bill through the House remains to be seen.

The Senate is expected to take a procedural vote Monday on a continuing resolution (CR) funding Planned Parenthood. The House is expected to take it up early next week.

The stopgap funding measure would only last until mid-December, but budget experts have warned that Congress might end up putting spending on autopilot for the whole fiscal year.

If that’s the case, the Pentagon would get $25 billion less than it had requested for fiscal 2016, a scenario a Pentagon spokesman has said would be as bad as sequestration.

Sequestration was enacted in 2013 and was meant to be so harmful that lawmakers would compromise on a budget before the cuts kicked in. Lawmakers partially relieved the cuts for 2014 and 2015, but they are slated to begin again in 2016.

The hearing schedule is packed for Tuesday, with the Senate Armed Services Committee scheduled to take a look at U.S. cybersecurity policy and threats.

Meanwhile, the House Armed Services Committee will explore cyber strategy for defense and the structure of the Air Force’s bomber force.

Also Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on the U.S. role and strategy in the Middle East when it comes to handling a humanitarian crisis.

Rounding out the Tuesday agenda, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade delves into U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Syria, while the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee examines the impact of exposure to toxic chemicals on veterans.

On Wednesday, the House Armed Services Committee has teed up a hearing on the Pentagon’s strategy with testimony from Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, the head of U.S. Cyber Command Adm. Michael Rogers and DOD Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen.

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday will look at the procurement, acquisition, testing and oversight of the Navy’s Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier program. Senior defense and Navy officials are slated to testify.  

That same day, the House Armed Services Committee looks at improving public shipyards to meet Navy operational requirements. 

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