President Donald Trump on Friday signed another continuing resolution to keep federal agencies operational through Jan. 19 at current spending levels, Military.com reported Friday.Trump approved the four-week government funding extension a day after Congress passed the measure to avert another government shutdown.
The new CR provides $4 billion in funds for the Defense Department’s missile defense initiatives that include $200 million for the construction of a new missile base in Alaska.
The measure also sets aside $2.1 billion for the Veterans Choice Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs and another $674 million for repair work on the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke-class destroyers – USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain.
Defense One also reported that the $4 billion in funds for missile defense projects seek to help the Pentagon counter North Korea’s ballistic missile threat and appear to support the emergency budget request that DoD issued in November.
The Pentagon’s November request includes $884 million in funds for the U.S. Army to procure 147 PAC-3 Patriot interceptors and fund updates to ATACMS missiles and Patriot launchers.
The emergency spending request also covers $256 million in funds for the U.S. Air Force’s research and development work; $60 million for the Navy’s “classified programs†R&D efforts; and $1.2 billion for the Missile Defense Agency’s 50 more THAAD interceptors and 16 additional SM-3 interceptors.
