Mike Black
@mikeblack114.bsky.social
8.4K followers 190 following 8.8K posts
Are you shittin me?!?!! No, but you'll print that and I'll probably be investigated Posts mine, but if you see something you think you can use to get me in trouble I did it on my own time and my own device, so good luck
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mikeblack114.bsky.social
Interesting who he chooses to engage with vs ignore lol
mikeblack114.bsky.social
guess we figured out what sean's limit was @bradduplessis.bsky.social
mikeblack114.bsky.social
NDAA doesn't appropriate funds

The $8B is the tell, they're trying to pull a fast one using the reprogramming authority in the FY25 CR (since that's the limit), but that isn't how reprogramming works
mikeblack114.bsky.social
but you can only reprogram money if the reprogrammed money will be obligated in a manner that Congress has appropriated funds for; there is no FY26 MILPERS appropriations and FY25 MILPERS is expired

any FMer who participates in this is either too dumb to have their job or knowingly breaking the law
mikeblack114.bsky.social
RDT&E is what's known as two year money, as Congress appropriates it alowing for two fiscal years for it to be obligated

so yes there is almost certainly $8B in RDT&E from FY25 appropriations that can still legally be obligated in FY26
mikeblack114.bsky.social
I'm skeptical of anything changing because the border wall MILCON boondoggles didn't move the needle, but there is a small chance this clownery results in them stripping any reprogramming authority in the future, which would both be bad and very funny
mikeblack114.bsky.social
yeah as a practical matter this is not at all the purpose of reprogramming and the PSMs on approps are gonna lose their minds, but also this is still black and white illegal
mikeblack114.bsky.social
yeah as a practical matter this is not at all the purpose of reprogramming and the PSMs on approps are gonna lose their minds, but also this is still black and white illegal
mikeblack114.bsky.social
when reading an appropriations bill, your prior should be "which interpretation would give more power to the Congress," because that interpretation is the correct one
mikeblack114.bsky.social
Who knows what the committees will actually do, since they're all run by wet noodles now, but the PSMs will not be pleased by this latest chicanery

at a minimum gonna make life a lot more difficult for everyone with Hill engagements
mikeblack114.bsky.social
Correct

Reprogramming is intended (and the language is written) to give the Executive latitude to not be overly strictured because when we're talking about almost a trillion dollars a few billion might not be 100% aligned

But it is ALWAYS done in consultation with approps, particularly their PSMs
mattsepara.bsky.social
I don't think people really understand the idea that Congress controls the purse strings and how important it is to the Constitutional order. It literally prevents the executive from doing anything without Congress providing the money. This is a power Congress has VERY closely guarded.
mikeblack114.bsky.social
well, don't tell pete this but despite his gender affirming care and preferred titles he is still officially the Secretary of Defense
mikeblack114.bsky.social
also just realized that if this is their gambit USCG is getting left out in the cold again because DHS doesn't have the same authorities and their reprogramming ability is more limited (although again, to be clear the whole thing is illegal)
mikeblack114.bsky.social
Negative

For starters as a logical matter there is no universe in which this meets the intended purpose of reprogramming language

But as a legal matter you've got to have a valid appropriation to transfer the monies into

Congress appropriates some things on a multi-year basis and others annual
egojunk.bsky.social
The DoD is allowed to transfer this money per statute apparently (though this is outside of my area). The CR in March upped it to 8 billion.
mikeblack114.bsky.social
Yeah to be completely clear this is still a usurpation of the appropriations power and not at all legal
mikeblack114.bsky.social
This is only for the troopies, no way they bother to pay civs (which would be even more complex)

but anyway this still isn't legal

bsky.app/profile/mike...
mikeblack114.bsky.social
Negative

For starters as a logical matter there is no universe in which this meets the intended purpose of reprogramming language

But as a legal matter you've got to have a valid appropriation to transfer the monies into

Congress appropriates some things on a multi-year basis and others annual
egojunk.bsky.social
The DoD is allowed to transfer this money per statute apparently (though this is outside of my area). The CR in March upped it to 8 billion.
mikeblack114.bsky.social
Lol the only not completely moronic way to do this would be to raid unexpended appropriations in multi year accounts; going into WCF would be a surefire Break Things plan
mikeblack114.bsky.social
I know the approps committees are impotent shells of themselves now so I don't expect anyone there to do anything about this, but any of their professional staffers would laugh this out of the room

Makes sense that OP in the xitter screenshots used to work for Mike though lol
mikeblack114.bsky.social
You can't take yet unused funds from a prior FY multi-year appropriation (which is what this would be) and shoehorn that in to a purpose for which Congress appropriates money annually, but has not yet appropriated

The FY25 MILPERS appropriation is expired, and there is no FY26 MILPERS appropriation
mikeblack114.bsky.social
Negative

For starters as a logical matter there is no universe in which this meets the intended purpose of reprogramming language

But as a legal matter you've got to have a valid appropriation to transfer the monies into

Congress appropriates some things on a multi-year basis and others annual
egojunk.bsky.social
The DoD is allowed to transfer this money per statute apparently (though this is outside of my area). The CR in March upped it to 8 billion.
Of course it has. It always does. Sec 8005 of DOD Appropriations, for starters… That one provision now allows for $8b in transfers, per March’s full year CR:
mikeblack114.bsky.social
but yeah DFAS (frankly the entire treasury system) is set up so the money moves, which means accounting where it came from and where it's going

This is going to at a very very minimum put exceptional strain on that system
mikeblack114.bsky.social
mikeblack114.bsky.social
on the other hand, money is just a concept so
gigansprogress.bsky.social
Because of how complex defense accounting is and how the money crosses different years and programs, DFAS is set up specifically to draw at those dates from those programs. You can't just create $15b dollars, you need to allocate it across a bunch of different areas and subsequently pull from/
mikeblack114.bsky.social
on the other hand, money is just a concept so
gigansprogress.bsky.social
Because of how complex defense accounting is and how the money crosses different years and programs, DFAS is set up specifically to draw at those dates from those programs. You can't just create $15b dollars, you need to allocate it across a bunch of different areas and subsequently pull from/
mikeblack114.bsky.social
OMB currently googling "which appropriations are more than one year"
mikeblack114.bsky.social
lol okay russ

this is going to be incredible and the likelihood a bunch of people not only do big boy crimes but irrevocably Break Something continues to increase
cthomasjamh.bsky.social
apnews.com/article/trum... OMB says the money for the troops is going to be covered by R&D but we’re back at how does DFAS color that money (like legally how does it use that pot) and distribute it properly over a holiday weekend to meet a Wednesday suspense.
mikeblack114.bsky.social
A notional 1961 Nixon Admin is like a historical black box, even odds we somehow manifest gay space communism out of it or he starts world war III