Secretary of Defense Gates testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee today. He touched on the failure of Congress to provide funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:
"After June 15, we will run out of funds in this account to pay soldiers, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan," Gates said. The second fund affected is operations and maintenance. "Around July 5, O&M funds across the services will run out, starting with the Army," the secretary said. "This may result in civilian furloughs, limits on training, and curbing family support activities."
Senator Reid has conceded that no Iraq funding bill is likely before the Memorial Day recess, but he is attempting to push through a short-term measure to obviate the need for furloughs.