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Subcommittee warned CRs, shrinking procurement threaten Guard and Reserve readiness
Summary
Members and service leaders told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense that continuing resolutions and limited procurement accounts are undermining training, flying hours and modernization for National Guard and Reserve forces.
Chairman John Calvert convened the Subcommittee on Defense to examine readiness and resourcing for the National Guard and Reserve, saying the Reserve and Guard “are not simply backup forces.”
The hearing highlighted widespread concern that the current full-year continuing resolution (CR) and delays in the FY2026 budget reduce predictability for training and equipment buys. Representative Betty McCollum, the subcommittee's ranking member, said she feared the subcommittee “will lack the substance and information we need to do our budgeting.”
Witnesses from service reserve components told members that unpredictable funding delays and constrained appropriation accounts are already forcing training curtailments and risk degrading readiness. General Stephen Nordhaus, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, told the panel the Guard “represents 20% of the joint force at 4% of the budget,” and urged sustained investment in foundational readiness accounts such as flying hours, facility sustainment, weapon-system sustainment and base operating support.
Lieutenant General John Healy, Chief of the Air Force Reserve, said the Air Force Reserve faces a shortfall in flying-hour funding and that the current CR “left us $26,000,000 in the hole,” warning that continuing to fly the required plan could exhaust program funding by early September and put aircrew proficiency at risk. Lieutenant General Robert Harder, Chief of the Army Reserve, emphasized that Reserve Pay Accounts drive soldiers’ ability to attend training and that continuing resolutions force delays and cancellations.
Members pressed witnesses about the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account, commonly known as NGREA. Multiple witnesses described NGREA as essential to recapitalization and modernization; Generals and admirals said current apportioned amounts do not keep pace with long-term modernization backlogs and high-average aircraft ages in reserve fleets.
The subcommittee also discussed supplemental appropriations for counterdrug operations — Congress provided $295 million in FY2025 for the Guard counterdrug program and an additional $26 million for counterdrug schools — and how those funds are used to support state and local law enforcement. General Nordhaus credited the counterdrug program with contributing to the removal of illegal narcotics from circulation in recent years.
The hearing produced no formal actions. Members repeatedly asked for updated, line-level budget justifications and asked witnesses to provide impacts of the CR on specific training and deployment timelines. Several service leaders offered to provide further budgetary detail to the subcommittee once full FY2026 numbers are available.
