DOD OFFICIAL: NNSA UNSUCCESSFULLY PUSHED FOR ANOMALY IN CR

The National Nuclear Security Administration attempted to push the Obama Administration to request an anomaly for its weapons program in the Fiscal Year 2014 Continuing Resolution, but the Administration ultimately left the agency off of its list of requested exceptions for the funding legislation, a senior Pentagon official said yesterday. Speaking on the sidelines of a speech at the Stimson Center, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs Madelyn Creedon confirmed that the agency tried to make the case for the anomaly, which would enabled the NNSA’s weapons program to spend at the level of the President’s $7.9 billion request for the length of the CR. As it stands, the White House Office of Management and Budget did not request an anomaly, and the CR unveiled last week by House appropriators didn’t include an anomaly for the NNSA. The bill does allow provisions in the FY 2013 CR to carry over, allowing the NNSA’s FY 2013 anomaly to transfer over, which provided $7.6 billion for the agency, and there is the possibility that a long-term CR could include an anomaly for the NNSA. “What does the Hill do, I have no idea,” Creedon said. “But there’s been a lot of discussion now about anomalies now, anomalies later, will the first one be clean, what do you do if you have a year long CR? It’s a question that’s obviously important, but I have no idea what the answer is.” The NNSA did not respond to a request for comment.