Army Secretary Christine Wormuth warns the readiness of Army National Guard units is at risk because of short-term funding shortages, largely resulting from the $450 million cost of deployments to secure the U.S. Capitol. 

The Guard is “concerned about their ability to pay for training for the rest of this year,” Wormuth told the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on defense during a June 22 hearing. It is a multistate problem, where states will find themselves with aviation and vehicle readiness issues, she said. Planned training exercises have been postponed because of a combination of U.S. Capitol security, law enforcement support along the Southwest border and COVID-19 missions, Wormuth said. 

“All of that regularly scheduled training has been postponed and now is at risk of not being funded,” she said. “It is definitely a concern and something that will impact our Guard all around the nation.” 

“My sense of the situation at this point is they are in a position where they don’t want to spend funds for the remainder of the year because then they would basically be at a point of being in violation of the Antideficiency Act,” she said, referring to a law that prohibits spending more money than appropriated by Congress.  

The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, but that leaves the National Guard short of training money for July, August and September, she said. 

Overall, the Army “is in great shape,” Wormuth said, adding that she’s “impressed but not surprised by the state of our Army and its professionalism, the hard work of our soldiers and families, and the continued sacrifice that soldiers and leaders make every day as the world’s greatest land fighting force.” 

“The Army’s readiness gains and modernization procurement requirements must be prioritized,” Wormuth said. “Significant progress has been made, but success can only be assured through continued transformation.”