OPINION — “The [Defense] Division [DoD] will proceed to defend the nation and conduct ongoing navy operations. It should proceed actions funded with any obtainable budgetary sources that haven’t lapsed (e.g., funds made obtainable in Pub. L. 119-21), in addition to excepted actions similar to these obligatory for the protection of human life and the safety of property. Important actions that can proceed throughout a lapse are summarized on this planning steering doc. Actions which might be decided to not be excepted, and which can’t be carried out by using navy personnel rather than furloughed civilian personnel, will probably be suspended when appropriated funds are not obtainable. The Secretary of Battle might, at any time, decide that further actions shall be handled as excepted.”
That could be a quote from the DoD’s September 2025 Contingency Plan Steerage For Continuation Of Operations In The Absence Of Obtainable Appropriations, issued “For Planning Functions Solely – Do Not Implement Till Path from the Deputy Secretary of Battle or his Designee.”
This doc, it states, “gives steering for figuring out these missions and features of the Division of Battle (DoW) that will proceed to be carried out within the absence of obtainable appropriations.”
I need to level out, as a result of it’s the explanation I’m scripting this column, that the Public Regulation referred to above, Pub. L. 119-21, is none aside from the so-called One Huge Stunning Invoice Act (OBBBA), handed by Congress July 3, and signed by President Trump into regulation on July 4.
A little bit of historical past: The OBBBA was designed by the Republicans to enact all of Trump’s second-term tax and spending insurance policies in a large, 1,100-page piece of laws. The Congressional Finances Workplace mentioned the measure would end in a lower in direct spending of $1.1 trillion, but additionally a lower in revenues of $4.5 trillion, rising the U.S. deficit by $3.4 trillion over the 2025-to-2034 interval.
To get the OBBBA handed, the Trump White Home and Republicans in Congress used the fiscal 2025 price range reconciliation course of, which allowed them to keep away from the 60-vote Senate filibuster. With common Democratic opposition, it handed the Home by a 218-to-214 vote, and the Senate by a 51-to-50 margin, with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the tiebreaking vote.
As I wrote final June, the OBBBA was “extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and decreasing Medicaid spending – [and] additionally incorporates authorization and appropriation for an extra $150 billion for fiscal 2025 protection spending.”
That further $150 billion for protection spending, as a result of it was thought-about a part of 2025 appropriations, is accessible to be spent throughout the present shutdown and thru 2029, in response to the phrases of the OBBBA.
Credit score for anticipating the necessity to put that $150 billion within the 2025 reconciliation measure, and never within the fiscal 2026 price range request, have to be shared by Director of the Workplace of Administration and Finances Russell Vought, White Home Deputy Chief of Workers Stephen Miller, and Republican members of the Home and Senate Armed Companies Committees. Late final April, with out a lot publicity, the Hill Republicans added the $150 billion to the OBBBA reconciliation invoice with White Home assist.
Additionally they added one other $170 billion for the Division of Homeland Safety and different businesses that I’ll talk about under.
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Again in June, I wrote that the Congress within the reconciliation invoice referred to as for the Protection Secretary “to ship to the Home and Senate Armed Companies Committees inside 60 days of the invoice passing Congress” a plan detailing how the added $150 billion appropriated to DoD can be spent. Whether or not Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth did or not is unclear.
Nonetheless, DoD’s September 2025 Contingency Plan Steerage mentioned, “As of September 2025, the [Defense] Division considers efforts to the assist the next amongst its highest priorities: Operations to safe the U.S. Southern Border; Center East operations; Golden Dome for America; Depot Upkeep; Shipbuilding; Important Munitions.”
No shock, that part provides, “As in each case, efforts supporting these actions might happen throughout a lapse when resourced with funds that stay obtainable — to incorporate these offered in Pub. L. 119-21,” the OBBBA.
It seems, the OBBBA had a bit entitled, “Bettering Division of Protection Border Help and Counter-Drug Missions.” That part offered an extra $1 billion for fiscal 2025 for use “for the deployment of navy personnel in assist of border operations, operations and upkeep actions in assist of border operations, counter-narcotics and counter-transnational felony group mission assist.”
The necessity for U.S. southern border cash for DoD was apparent. However again in July, who publicly was pondering of utilizing DoD belongings for “counter-narcotics and counter-transnational felony group mission assist?” It was not till late August that the general public realized of a U.S. Navy buildup within the southern Caribbean to fight drug trafficking, and the primary so-called Venezuelan narco-boat was destroyed September 2.
But again in early June, it seems, the Trump administration sought and obtained Congress to approve fiscal 2025 funds to finance what have grow to be these present Caribbean counter-narcotics navy operations within the OBBBA. And the identical phrases, “counter-narcotic and counter-transnational felony group” have been used to explain the targets in justification letters despatched the Congress after narco-boat destructions.
Three different of the “highest precedence” parts talked about within the DoD’s September 2025 Contingency Plan Steerage have been additionally singled out within the OBBBA for allocation of funds from the additional $150 billion added to fiscal 2025 protection spending.
A bit entitled “Enhancement of Division of Protection Assets for Shipbuilding” was allotted $29 billion. This included $750 million for extra provider improvement throughout the naval shipbuilding industrial base; $500 million for superior manufacturing methods within the shipbuilding industrial base; $500 million for extra dry-dock functionality; and $450 million for extra maritime industrial workforce improvement packages.
One other part for Trump’s Golden Dome missile protection program entitled “Enhancement of Division of Protection Assets for Built-in Air and Missile Protection,” was allotted $25 billion. This included $7.2 billion for the event, procurement, and integration of navy space-based sensors; $5.6 billion for improvement of space-based and enhance section intercept capabilities; $2.55 billion for the event, procurement, and integration of navy missile protection capabilities; and $2.2 billion for acceleration of hypersonic protection programs.
A 3rd part of the OBBBA entitled “Enhancement of Division of Protection Assets for Munitions and Protection Provide Chain Resiliency,” additionally obtained $25 billion. This included $5 billion for investments in important minerals provide chains; one other $2 billion for extra actions to enhance the U.S. stockpile of important minerals; $1 billion for the creation of next-generation automated munitions manufacturing factories; $688 million for the event, manufacturing, and integration of long-range multi-service cruise missiles; and $300 million for the manufacturing of Military medium-range ballistic missiles.
As I discussed above, there was one other $170 billion for the Division of Homeland Safety added to OBBBA and it’s cash obtainable to be spent throughout the shutdown.
For instance, there was $46.5 billion for parts for the brand new border infrastructure and border wall system; $45 billion for single grownup alien detention capability and household residential heart capability; and $6.2 billion for procurement and integration of latest inspection gear to fight the entry or exit of illicit narcotics at ports of entry and alongside the southwest, northern, and maritime borders.
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On the personnel facet, there was $4.1 billion to rent and prepare further Border Patrol brokers, Workplace of Discipline Operations officers, Air and Marine brokers, rehired annuitants, and U.S. Customs and Border Safety discipline assist personnel; and one other $2.1 billion to offer recruitment bonuses, efficiency awards, or annual retention bonuses to eligible Border Patrol brokers, Workplace of Discipline Operations officers, and Air and Marine brokers.
One other OBBBA provision offered $10 billion “to stay obtainable till September 30, 2029, for reimbursement of prices incurred in enterprise actions in assist of the Division of Homeland Safety’s mission to safeguard the borders of america.”
Three different gadgets want no clarification.
Within the OBBBA there was $625 million for safety and different prices associated to the 2026 FIFA [Soccer] World Cup, and $1 billion for safety, planning, and different prices associated to the 2028 Olympics.
Lastly, there was $300 million included for the Federal Emergency Administration Company (FEMA) to reimburse state or native regulation enforcement personnel “for cover actions straight and demonstrably related to any [non-governmental] residence of the President.” That might cowl, at a minimal, Mar-A-Lago in Florida, Bedminster Golf Membership in New Jersey and Trump Tower in New York. In keeping with one information story, Trump throughout his first 4 years in workplace traveled to his properties almost 550 instances.
Beneath this OBBBA provision, the reimbursement can be obtainable just for prices {that a} state or native company incurred or incurs on or after July 1, 2024; demonstrated to the FEMA Administrator as being in extra of typical regulation enforcement operation prices; and was straight attributable to Presidential safety requested by the U.S. Secret Service.
One has to confess that Trump and key members of his employees clearly did some advance planning once they put collectively the OBBBA – perhaps they even foresaw a authorities shutdown.
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