Frank Kendall, Bill LaPlante Criticize FY2024 Budget Delays

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has taken Congress to task for failing to pass a fiscal year 2024 budget that would provide an initial $5 billion tranche his organization needs to finance key programs.

Speaking at a Rand-hosted discussion, Kendall suggested that Congress may “never appropriate” FY2024 funding, potentially constraining the Pentagon’s efforts to keep pace with China, Breaking Defense reported Friday.

The Pentagon’s budget is capped at FY2023 levels due to the passage of a continuing resolution instead of a full budget. A one-percent reduction to the CR budget will occur if lawmakers cannot agree on a budget by the end of April.

According to Kendall, a 2024 Wash100 winner and a past Potomac Officers Club event speaker, the Department of the Air Force will need to revise its upcoming FY2025 proposal if the CR continues and the cut takes effect.

William LaPlante, the Pentagon’s undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment and another past POC speaker, compared the budget dysfunction to “running a race, but having to take a knee ‘25 percent of the time.’”