As Congress continues deliberations on the fiscal 2024 budget, the Defense Department is operating under a continuing resolution, said Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh at a press conference today.
"We urge Congress to pass a full-year appropriation in addition to our urgent supplemental funding request in order to strengthen our national security and support for our allies and partners," she said.
Singh noted that the last presidential drawdown package for Ukraine was in December.
"It's crucially important that Ukraine has the resources it needs—including air defense and artillery capabilities—to defend itself against Russia's brutal invasion," she said.
"Congress' continued failure to act endangers the United States’ national security, the NATO alliance and the rest of the free world," she said.
In other news, Singh said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III is working from home and participating in Pentagon meetings remotely after a two-week stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he was treated for prostate cancer. Walter Reed is located in Bethesda, Maryland.
"I know we're certainly wishing him a speedy recovery, and I'm sure he's wanting to come back [to the Pentagon] as soon as he can," she said.
Austin's doctors have said early diagnosis and treatment led to an excellent prognosis, and the secretary is expected to make a full recovery, said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder at a briefing yesterday.
Austin will continue to undergo physical therapy while at home.