NDIA CEO Norquist urges Congress to Pass the Full-Year Defense Appropriations Bill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(ARLINGTON, VA) In a letter released Monday, March 10, NDIA CEO and President and former Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Hon. David L. Norquist, urged Congress to pass the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, to avoid a harmful government shutdown and prioritize passage of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations Act before the start of the next fiscal year.

“The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 makes significant changes to the traditional CR language that has been enacted over the last 16 fiscal years,” said Norquist. “Many of these address concerns and reflect recommendations highlighted by NDIA in past correspondence and Vital Signs 2025 as well as the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Reform Commission. The new start authorities in Section 1409, for example, are a welcome improvement to promote innovation and, as recommended by the PPBE Commission, should become standard practice in the future.”

Norquist noted that the funding bill provides DoD with the flexibility needed to initiate new starts and leverage multi-year procurements, which has been prevented in CRs over the past two decades. The bill also provides additional funds to complete construction for several shipbuilding programs, increases the general transfer authority, and grants additional flexibility to obligate more funds during the last two months of the fiscal year. The letter also stresses the importance of passing the FY2026 DoD Appropriations Act on time.

“By March 14, 2025, the U.S. government will have hit the grim milestone of operating under a CR for a total of 1,925 days over the last 16 years. Although the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 includes several vital anomalies that provide DoD with needed flexibility, the budget instability over the past two decades has caused damage to our national security, military readiness, and businesses of all sizes that support our warfighters. Therefore, it is crucial that Congress continue to work towards normalizing passage of the full-year DoD Appropriations Act on time each year.”

Read the letter in full here.

Read past correspondence to Congress here.

Read Vital Signs 2025 here.

Read the final PPBE Reform Commission report here.