ABSTRACT
National security became intimately entwined in the hyper-partisan domestic political debate over deficit reduction during the summer of 2011. National security policy has become controversial to an extent not seen since the end of the Cold War. Questions about national security policy were part of the overall political dialogue before that date, mainly centering on issues such as the wisdom, desirability, and timing of American withdrawal from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the gridlocked political environment, two historical methods have come to dominate how the government funds itself. One is the use of continuing resolutions that evade the need to compromise inherent in adopting federal budgets. The other is supplemental appropriations to create the illusion of spending money but not adding to deficits. Supplemental appropriations allow the spending of federal funds outside the federal budget.
