WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has been issuing dire warnings this year that the military is fast approaching a severe money crunch — a problem compounded now by the war in Iraq and Syria.
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Congress will almost certainly pay that bill using the OCO account, said Gordon Adams, an analyst with the Stimson Center and a professor at American University.
“It is like a drug. It is the magic feel-good for anybody’s budgetary needs,” he said.
Lawmakers must hash out a new defense spending plan by Dec. 11, when the stop-gap spending measure they passed just before leaving Washington for mid-term elections expires.
The White House has already requested $65.8 billion in OCO funds for the coming year.
“If they don’t come back sometime after the election and bump that [OCO budget] up $10-$15 billion, I will be shocked,” Adams said.
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