OPINION — “The [Defense] Division [DoD] will proceed to defend the nation and conduct ongoing navy operations. It would proceed actions funded with any obtainable budgetary assets that haven’t lapsed (e.g., funds made obtainable in Pub. L. 119-21), in addition to excepted actions similar to these obligatory for the protection of human life and the safety of property. Vital actions that can proceed throughout a lapse are summarized on this planning steering doc. Actions which might be decided to not be excepted, and which can’t be carried out by using navy personnel instead of furloughed civilian personnel, will likely be suspended when appropriated funds are not obtainable. The Secretary of Battle might, at any time, decide that further actions shall be handled as excepted.”
That may be a quote from the DoD’s September 2025 Contingency Plan Steerage For Continuation Of Operations In The Absence Of Obtainable Appropriations, issued “For Planning Functions Solely – Do Not Implement Till Route from the Deputy Secretary of Battle or his Designee.”
This doc, it states, “supplies steering for figuring out these missions and capabilities of the Division of Battle (DoW) that will proceed to be carried out within the absence of accessible appropriations.”
I have to level out, as a result of it’s the explanation I’m scripting this column, that the Public Legislation referred to above, Pub. L. 119-21, is none aside from the so-called One Massive Stunning Invoice Act (OBBBA), handed by Congress July 3, and signed by President Trump into regulation on July 4.
A little bit of historical past: The OBBBA was designed by the Republicans to enact all of Trump’s second-term tax and spending insurance policies in an enormous, 1,100-page piece of laws. The Congressional Price range Workplace stated the measure would end in a lower in direct spending of $1.1 trillion, but in addition a lower in revenues of $4.5 trillion, rising the U.S. deficit by $3.4 trillion over the 2025-to-2034 interval.
To get the OBBBA handed, the Trump White Home and Republicans in Congress used the fiscal 2025 funds reconciliation course of, which allowed them to keep away from the 60-vote Senate filibuster. With common Democratic opposition, it handed the Home by a 218-to-214 vote, and the Senate by a 51-to-50 margin, with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the tiebreaking vote.
As I wrote final June, the OBBBA was “extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and decreasing Medicaid spending – [and] additionally incorporates authorization and appropriation for an extra $150 billion for fiscal 2025 protection spending.”
That further $150 billion for protection spending, as a result of it was thought of a part of 2025 appropriations, is accessible to be spent in the course of the present shutdown and thru 2029, in line with the phrases of the OBBBA.
Credit score for anticipating the necessity to put that $150 billion within the 2025 reconciliation measure, and never within the fiscal 2026 funds request, should be shared by Director of the Workplace of Administration and Price range Russell Vought, White Home Deputy Chief of Employees Stephen Miller, and Republican members of the Home and Senate Armed Companies Committees. Late final April, with out a lot publicity, the Hill Republicans added the $150 billion to the OBBBA reconciliation invoice with White Home help.
Additionally they added one other $170 billion for the Division of Homeland Safety and different businesses that I’ll talk about beneath.
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Again in June, I wrote that the Congress within the reconciliation invoice known as for the Protection Secretary “to ship to the Home and Senate Armed Companies Committees inside 60 days of the invoice passing Congress” a plan detailing how the added $150 billion appropriated to DoD could be spent. Whether or not Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth did or not is unclear.
Nevertheless, DoD’s September 2025 Contingency Plan Steerage stated, “As of September 2025, the [Defense] Division considers efforts to the help the next amongst its highest priorities: Operations to safe the U.S. Southern Border; Center East operations; Golden Dome for America; Depot Upkeep; Shipbuilding; Vital Munitions.”
No shock, that part provides, “As in each case, efforts supporting these actions might happen throughout a lapse when resourced with funds that stay obtainable — to incorporate these offered in Pub. L. 119-21,” the OBBBA.
It seems, the OBBBA had a piece entitled, “Bettering Division of Protection Border Assist and Counter-Drug Missions.” That part offered an extra $1 billion for fiscal 2025 for use “for the deployment of navy personnel in help of border operations, operations and upkeep actions in help of border operations, counter-narcotics and counter-transnational felony group mission help.”
The necessity for U.S. southern border cash for DoD was apparent. However again in July, who publicly was pondering of utilizing DoD belongings for “counter-narcotics and counter-transnational felony group mission help?” It was not till late August that the general public discovered of a U.S. Navy buildup within the southern Caribbean to fight drug trafficking, and the primary so-called Venezuelan narco-boat was destroyed September 2.
But again in early June, it seems, the Trump administration sought and received Congress to approve fiscal 2025 funds to finance what have turn into these present Caribbean counter-narcotics navy operations within the OBBBA. And the identical phrases, “counter-narcotic and counter-transnational felony group” had been used to explain the targets in justification letters despatched the Congress after narco-boat destructions.
Three different of the “highest precedence” components talked about within the DoD’s September 2025 Contingency Plan Steerage had been additionally singled out within the OBBBA for allocation of funds from the additional $150 billion added to fiscal 2025 protection spending.
A bit entitled “Enhancement of Division of Protection Assets for Shipbuilding” was allotted $29 billion. This included $750 million for added provider growth throughout the naval shipbuilding industrial base; $500 million for superior manufacturing methods within the shipbuilding industrial base; $500 million for added dry-dock functionality; and $450 million for added maritime industrial workforce growth packages.
One other part for Trump’s Golden Dome missile protection program entitled “Enhancement of Division of Protection Assets for Built-in Air and Missile Protection,” was allotted $25 billion. This included $7.2 billion for the event, procurement, and integration of navy space-based sensors; $5.6 billion for growth of space-based and enhance section intercept capabilities; $2.55 billion for the event, procurement, and integration of navy missile protection capabilities; and $2.2 billion for acceleration of hypersonic protection methods.
A 3rd part of the OBBBA entitled “Enhancement of Division of Protection Assets for Munitions and Protection Provide Chain Resiliency,” additionally received $25 billion. This included $5 billion for investments in essential minerals provide chains; one other $2 billion for added actions to enhance the U.S. stockpile of essential minerals; $1 billion for the creation of next-generation automated munitions manufacturing factories; $688 million for the event, manufacturing, and integration of long-range multi-service cruise missiles; and $300 million for the manufacturing of Military medium-range ballistic missiles.
As I discussed above, there was one other $170 billion for the Division of Homeland Safety added to OBBBA and it’s cash obtainable to be spent in the course of the shutdown.
For instance, there was $46.5 billion for components for the brand new border infrastructure and border wall system; $45 billion for single grownup alien detention capability and household residential heart capability; and $6.2 billion for procurement and integration of latest inspection tools to fight the entry or exit of illicit narcotics at ports of entry and alongside the southwest, northern, and maritime borders.
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On the personnel aspect, there was $4.1 billion to rent and practice further Border Patrol brokers, Workplace of Discipline Operations officers, Air and Marine brokers, rehired annuitants, and U.S. Customs and Border Safety subject help personnel; and one other $2.1 billion to supply recruitment bonuses, efficiency awards, or annual retention bonuses to eligible Border Patrol brokers, Workplace of Discipline Operations officers, and Air and Marine brokers.
One other OBBBA provision offered $10 billion “to stay obtainable till September 30, 2029, for reimbursement of prices incurred in endeavor actions in help of the Division of Homeland Safety’s mission to safeguard the borders of the USA.”
Three different gadgets want no rationalization.
Within the OBBBA there was $625 million for safety and different prices associated to the 2026 FIFA [Soccer] World Cup, and $1 billion for safety, planning, and different prices associated to the 2028 Olympics.
Lastly, there was $300 million included for the Federal Emergency Administration Company (FEMA) to reimburse state or native regulation enforcement personnel “for defense actions immediately and demonstrably related to any [non-governmental] residence of the President.” That might cowl, at a minimal, Mar-A-Lago in Florida, Bedminster Golf Membership in New Jersey and Trump Tower in New York. In response to one information story, Trump throughout his first 4 years in workplace traveled to his properties practically 550 occasions.
Underneath this OBBBA provision, the reimbursement could be obtainable just for prices {that a} state or native company incurred or incurs on or after July 1, 2024; demonstrated to the FEMA Administrator as being in extra of typical regulation enforcement operation prices; and was immediately attributable to Presidential safety requested by the U.S. Secret Service.
One has to confess that Trump and key members of his workers clearly did some advance planning once they put collectively the OBBBA – possibly they even foresaw a authorities shutdown.
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