Government Shutdown 2017 Update: Military, Defense Contractors Worried About Budget

Military officials, high-ranking senators and defense contractors are all reportedly worried Congress could pass another continuing budget resolution instead of a proper bill, sticking the armed services with last year’s funding while a potential government shutdown looming next month.

Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain of Arizona said Thursday that he was willing to shut the federal government down, a possibility should an appropriations bill not be passed by April 28, and would not stand for another continuing resolution.

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"If that's the only option. I will not vote for a CR no matter what the consequences because passing a CR destroys the ability of the military to defend this nation, and it puts the lives of the men and women in the military at risk," McCain told CNN. "I can't do that to them."

McCain’s comments echoed statements by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., as neither appeared willing to keep the military at its current spending level.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., though, was optimistic about passing a bill and hinted at bipartisanship.

“There is no desire for a [continuing resolution],” McConnell said. “Democrats and Republicans … are working together on this, and we fully anticipate getting it out by the end of April. ”

Still, there were worries within the defense industry that repeated bill stalls and more continuing resolutions could affect this year and 2018’s military budget.

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"In some respects you could look at it as, 'It's sort of an early test of the new political configuration.' If they don’t figure this out in '17, it really makes the prospects for '18 that much tougher," Robert Rangel, Lockheed Martin lobbyist and former chief of staff to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said to Defense News earlier this month.

"And of course the early outlines of the ’18 budget suggest that this is going to be very, very difficult."

Should those efforts fail, a partial government shutdown could occur by the end of next month. The military's entire fiscal year 2017 budget won’t be run down completely until Sept. 30, but the Senate has yet to pass a $578 billion spending bill that had already gained approval from the House earlier this month.

Weeks before the deadline, top generals from every branch of the military were scheduled to appear at an April 5 hearing before the Armed Services Committee, during which they are expected to explain how another continuing resolution would damage the military.