Calvert Remarks at FY25 Budget Request For The National Guard and Reserves Forces (As Prepared)

The Subcommittee will come to order.

Today, the Subcommittee will receive testimony on the fiscal year 2025 budget request for the Reserve Components of the United States Armed Forces.

To discuss the budget request and other issues related to the Reserve Components, we welcome our panel consisting of General Daniel Hokanson, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, Lieutenant General Jody Daniels, the Chief of the Army Reserve, Vice Admiral John Mustin, the Chief of the Navy Reserve, Lieutenant General Leonard Anderson, the Commander of the Marine Corps Reserve, and Lieutenant General John Healy, the Chief of the Air Force Reserve

Welcome to you all and thank you for your years of distinguished service. We look forward to your testimony today.

The Reserve Components provide our nation with a critical force multiplier in time of war and an indispensable national response force in times of peace.

We all know that the National Guard is our Nation’s 9-1-1 response force when it comes to natural disasters. In California, the Guard’s firefighting capabilities saves lives every year. But the Guard is also desperately trying to repel an invasion across our southern border. This invasion, encouraged by President Biden’s failed immigration and border policies, is bringing deadly fentanyl and criminals into our communities. While most Americans are aware of the Guard’s domestic responsibilities, they should also be aware of the great work the Guard is doing internationally.

Working with our partners around the world through the critical State Partnership Program, the Guard is enhancing the security of our allies.

Our Reserves have also demonstrated their importance during periods of peacetime peril. At the height of the pandemic, our Reserve forces deployed around the country to augment overwhelmed civilian medical personnel in places like New York City.

So, for all that you do, we salute you.

But to ensure that our Reserve Components can continue their great work, they must be adequately resourced, especially given the dangerous global environment we find ourselves in. Unfortunately, the President has failed to request the resources necessary to support our Guard and Reserve.

While inflation is running over 3%, the overall funding request for the Reserve Components in fiscal year 2025 for programs under this Subcommittee’s jurisdiction is nearly 2% lower than in fiscal year 2024. This equates to a reduction of over one billion dollars.

While there are some reserve components that received increases in this budget over last year, those appear to have come at the expense of other reserve components.

Now some may argue that this strategy of robbing Peter to pay Paul was made necessary as a result of the caps imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. However, the President has conveniently ignored those caps when it comes to non-Defense spending.

One need only look at the National Guard’s Unfunded Priority List as an example of the woeful inadequacy of the President’s budget request. The fiscal year 2024 list of unfunded priorities totaled $662 million for programs under this Subcommittee’s jurisdiction. For fiscal year 2025, that list has grown to a whopping $2.4 billion! That’s a 263 percent increase in unfunded priorities.

While the President’s budget is obviously deficient, let me be clear that this Committee’s strong support for the Guard and Reserve is unwavering. In fact, last year we added $1 billion dollars above the budget request for the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account and $200 million above the budget request for the National Guard counterdrug program.

But we need to understand your actual shortfalls. So, I’ll be interested in hearing from each of you regarding any risks this budget is posing to mission requirements and quality of life improvements for your personnel, as well as where you could use additional funding.

Specifically, I want to hear your perspectives on how confident you are that you’ll meet your required end strength in fiscal year 2025, the impact of NATO’s expansion on the National Guard’s State Partnership Program, the challenges posed to Air National Guard units by F-15 EX fielding timelines, and the timeline for the KC-46A beddown at March Air Reserve Base.

I’ll also be interested in the Guard’s perspective regarding the proposed move of Guard personnel into the Space Force, an issue which has generated considerable debate recently.