Overnight Defense: Military chiefs lament budget uncertainty | House votes to block Gitmo releases | Army changes discharge policy

by Kristina Wong - 09/15/16 5:59 PM ET

THE TOPLINE: The chiefs of the four military services on Thursday slammed Congress’s reliance on continuing resolutions to fund the government ahead of a new fiscal year that is likely to start out the same way.

“Eight years of continuing resolutions, including a year of sequestration, have driven additional costs and time into just about everything that we do,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said at a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

{mosads}”The services are essentially operating in three fiscal quarters per year now. Nobody schedules anything important in the first quarter. The destructions that this uncertainty imposes translates directly into risk to our Navy and our nation.”

The chiefs also painted a bleak picture of the effects of sequestration — created by the Budget Control Act of 2011 — on the military, reiterating concerns about readiness to take on threats such as China or Russia after 15 years of focusing on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency.

The chiefs found sympathetic ears from panel members from both parties, who are hoping the testimony will propel Congress to repeal the budget law.

“We have to move away from sequestration, and one of the issues that has been illustrated by your testimony is not just the limits on spending, it’s the uncertainty,” said Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), ranking member of the committee.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the committee chairman, pinned blame on both President Obama and Congress for failing to lift budget caps and harming military readiness.

“Who is to blame for the increasing risks to the lives of the men and women who volunteer to serve and defend our nation?” McCain said. “The answer is clear: we are. The president and the Congress, Democrats and Republicans, all of us. With budget debates looming ahead, the question now is whether we’ll find the courage we’ve lacked for five long years.”

The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel has the story here.

WATCH the hearing here.

HOUSE VOTES TO BLOCK GITMO RELEASES: The House passed legislation on Thursday to prevent transfers of any more detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in an effort to stymie President Obama’s goal of closing it before leaving office.

A bill authored by Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) passed largely along party lines, 244-174, with 12 Democrats voting and all but four Republicans in support.

Thursday’s vote comes a month after the Obama administration announced it would transfer 15 detainees to the United Arab Emirates.

Sixty-one detainees remain at the Guantanamo Bay facility, including 20 who have been approved for transfers but await countries to accept them. A total of 177 detainees have been transferred over the course of President Obama’s tenure.

The Hill’s Cristina Marcos has more here.

HOUSE PASSES BILL MAKING VA FIRINGS EASIER: The House passed legislation Wednesday to give the Secretary of Veterans Affairs more power to punish or fire employees for misconduct.

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller’s (R-Fla.) bill, approved by a vote of 310-116, would authorize the VA secretary to fire or demote any VA employee, except for senior executives and political appointees, for misconduct.

Among other provisions, the VA secretary would have the ability to reduce senior executives’ pensions if they’re convicted of felonies affecting their job performance.

The legislation also eliminates all bonuses for VA senior executives through the 2021 fiscal year. Any bonuses paid out to VA employees could be rescinded if the VA secretary finds that they engaged in fraudulent or wasteful activity.

The Hill’s Cristina Marcos has more.

ARMY CHANGES DISCHARGE POLICY: The Army does not have proper documentation to confirm that 73 soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries underwent required medical exams before being discharged, it said in a letter to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

As a result, the Army now requires separation authorities to document in writing the results of a soldier’s medical examination and pledges to update any applicable policies to specify documents required for separation packets.

“The Army remains confident in the administrative processes that define misconduct separation procedures,” Army Secretary Eric Fanning wrote in the letter released Thursday by Murphy’s office. “The results of the multidisciplinary review demonstrate that separation authorities are reviewing and considering whether a soldier’s history of PTSD and/or TBI may have been a factor in the misconduct that led to the soldier’s administrative separation.”

The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel has more.

NAVY SEALS TO GET NEW SUBS: SEALs will soon have new underwater vehicles delivering them to targets that officials say will make a huge difference during missions.

SEALs currently ride in a sort of underwater sled in full scuba gear completely exposed to the water, in often freezing cold and in “pure blackout” conditions and total silence for eight to 10 hours.

“Ever take an ice bath?” said a SEAL who spoke to The Hill on the condition of anonymity. “It’s a tall order.”

The new vehicles, which are called dry combat submersibles, will be akin to mini-submarines, and allow SEALs to stay warmer and drier for longer, and more physically ready, as they close in on their target.

That’s a huge advantage for missions that one retired SEAL who is now a congressman described as “can’t fail.”

The Hill’s Kristina Wong has more here.

ICYMI:

— The Hill: Top Armed Services Dem: Defense policy bill ‘unlikely’ before recess

— The Hill: Pentagon: ‘Not all terms’ of Syrian ceasefire being met

— The Hill: US issues sanctions against two Turkey-based ISIS supporters

— WaPo: Top U.S. Special Operations general: ‘We’re hurting ourselves’ with all these movies and books

— AP: US plans to shift military assets to Syria in Russia deal

Please send tips and comments to Kristina Wong, kwong@digital-staging.thehill.com, and Rebecca Kheel, rkheel@digital-staging.thehill.com