Unless the Congress repeals or reprioritizes sequestration, a mechanism set up by the Budget Control Act of 2011, that mechanism will cut roughly $50 bn out of the defense budget in FY2013 alone and another $55 bn in each FY through FY2022. Also, Congress may fail this year to pass a proper Defense Appropriations Act or an Omnibus Approps bill and pass a Continuing Resolution with funding at FY2012 levels (without regard for the DOD’s new Defense Strategic Guidance) for all programs and a ban on new program starts. If that happens, the DOD will face a severe funding shortage due to automatic, arbitrary, across-the-board cuts (excepting only military personnel).
The disastrous consequences of such cuts cannot be avoided unless the cuts themselves are cancelled and the Congress passes a proper Approps bill instead of a Continuing Resolution. There are only a few things that the DOD can do to mitigate (not avoid – merely mitigate) the damage and preserve priority programs, such as:
None of these steps can prevent the US military from being gutted by sequestration, let alone a combination of sequestration and a Continuing Resolution. They can, however, allow the DOD to make savings which could then be used to “reprogram” the money to be directed to needed programs.
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