§222a Unfunded priorities of the armed forces and combatant commands: annual report

Summary

Within 10 days after the President’s budget is sent to Congress, the senior leaders listed below must send a report to the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the congressional defense committees about their “unfunded priorities.” The leaders are the Army Chief of Staff, Chief of Naval Operations, Air Force Chief of Staff, Marine Corps Commandant, Chief of Space Operations, commanders of the combatant commands, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau (in the role described by law). Each report must say what each unfunded priority is, how much more money is needed, which budget line or account it would come from (for example LIN, PE, or SAG), what risk would be reduced if it were funded, what need it fills, why it was left out of the President’s budget, what money was provided this year and last year, and how funding it would affect the future-years defense plan. Reports must list priorities in order of urgency: overall, then among non-construction items, and then for covered military construction projects. The National Guard chief may only include priorities for non-federal Guard homeland defense or civil support that were not sent earlier by Army or Air Force leaders in any of the five prior fiscal years, unless the Secretary of Defense approves and tells Congress in writing. After getting all of those reports, the Secretary of Defense, with the Chairman, has 10 days to send Congress a single prioritized list that ranks all the unfunded priorities by how much they would lower risk to the national defense strategy and the National Military Strategy. Unfunded priority means a program, activity, mission requirement, or covered military construction project that is not in the President’s budget, is needed for an operation or validated requirement, and would have been proposed if more money had been available or if the need arose after the budget was made. Covered military construction project means a construction project that is in the future-years defense program and can be built that year, or one a combatant commander calls urgent and can be built that year.