Congress may grant $2.2 billion exemption for Navy to build new submarines amid fears of delayed funding bill

The Congressional Continuing Resolution (CR) released Sunday night establishes a rare exception for the Navy to assume up to $2.2 billion in additional funding for the Columbia-class submarine program.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer discovery the government-wide funding extension days before Friday's deadline avoid a government shutdown com disagreements continue to delay the passage of the fiscal year 2024 funding bill, seconds on CNN. The Pentagon has warned that repeated short-term funding bills would delay needed programs to modernize the US nuclear deterrent, including by building the second ballistic missile submarine now covered under the CR.

“Columbia submarines are needed to be at sea this decade to ensure our continued second-strike capability,” Brent Sadler, senior research fellow for naval warfare at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The margins for error and delay are long gone, and these submarines are key to deterring adversaries like China and Russia.”

If approved, additional money spent on CR could solve problems with long-term parts, components that take longer and often require an upfront commitment of funds, investment in labor and industrial base suppliers , Sadler explained to the DCNF.

“Routine and predictable budgets are the smartest way to build submarines, but a CR that ensures procurement of long lead pieces and keeps supply chain recovery efforts on track is the second best and key for the health of this strategically important program,” he said.

Congress has already extended funding from fiscal year 2023 to 2024 more than once. In November, the chambers past a short-term package that allows the Navy a Besidesl $621,270,000 for the submarine program amid fears it could be delayed and create a gap in the nuclear deterrent, seconds in Defense News.

That bill funds the Defense Department through Feb. 2, Defense News reported, and would cover one of the expected 12 Columbia class submarines. A previous CR authorized in September also contained an unusual waiver allowing the Navy to continue working on the program.

The first Columbia-class submarine passes astern under the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge in Holland, #gdelectricboatthe 400-foot-long ocean-going barge, before arriving at @GDEelectricBoat Quonset Point pic.twitter.com/BqbKUay3Xh

— GD Electric Boat (@GDElectricBoat) January 10, 2024

“While the first FY24 CR provided an anomaly for an increase in the production rate for the second Columbia-class submarine, the increase in the operations rate for early procurement funding in fiscal year 24 will cause delays in the awarding of long-term materials for up to ten future Columbia-class submarines and a delay in investment funding for the Submarine Industrial Base. This puts the modernization of the our nation's nuclear triad maritime base,” said Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro. said in a letter to Congress on December 8.

It would also contribute to the waste of billions due to delays and uncertainty caused by the lack of guaranteed funding from Congress, he said.

“Should Congress not provide a FY 2024 appropriation and instead enact a one-year CR at FY 2023 levels … our Marine Corps and Marine Corps equipment will suffer an immediate $15.2 billion rollback with impacts in nearly every area,” del Toro wrote.

“In short, having access to this additional money to keep Columbia's program so close to schedule is important. That said, the real metric of effectiveness will be the results: Will this money keep the program on time? Sadler told the DCNF.

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