Navy Faces Budget Shortfall Even If Sequester Goes Away

Even if Congress somehow rolls back sequestration, the Navy’s fiscal situation will be uncomfortably tight, like trying to steer a battleship through the Panama Canal.

Under the president’s five-year budget plan — which assumes sequester away — the “real buying power” for the Navy and the Marine Corps declines after fiscal year 2016, the Navy Department’s official budget book admits.

And the Navy budget director, Rear Adm. William Lescher, told reporters at the Pentagon today that if funding stays at sequestration levels, the Navy would lose $39 billion and “would not be able to execute the strategy.”

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