Initial Federal Budget Response to the 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor

Publication Date: September 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: Military and defense

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Abstract:

The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, occurred as the federal government was half way through FY1942. Congress and the President immediately responded by enacting into law declarations of war against Japan, Germany, and Italy, in which the President was directed to prosecute the war to its successful conclusion and Congress pledged "all of the resources of the country" to the effort. Two relatively modest FY1942 supplemental appropriations acts for national defense were enacted later in December, but not as part of any planned response to the Pearl Harbor attack.

The first major budgetary response to the attack (and the outbreak of hostilities generally) was the submission by President Franklin D. Roosevelt of his budget for FY1943 to Congress on January 5, 1942. The President described his budget as a "war budget," which included "an initial request for a war appropriation" for FY1943 of $13.6 billion, on top of $45 billion that had been added to the defense budget in FY1942 (largely to fund a "huge" armament program). The President only identified total defense appropriations due to the need for secrecy. Outlays for national defense surged from $6.4 billion for FY1941, to $25.7 billion for FY1942, and to $66.7 billion for FY1943; defense outlays peaked at $83 billion for FY1945 before dropping markedly in postwar years. A regular appropriation bill for FY1943, for the Navy Department, was enacted o n February 7, 1942, and other regular appropriations bills for the fiscal year were enacted later in the session.

President Roosevelt did not seek, and Congress did not provide, a "blank check" for war spending. Instead, the President made specific requests for funds, which Congress dealt with through the usual annual appropriations process. Supplemental defense appropriations for FY1942, as well as regular and supplemental appropriations for FY1943 and later years, were provided in the regular form--that is, as specified dollar amounts for specified accounts. This report will be updated as developments warrant. (For related information, see CRS Report RS20182, Suspension of Budget Enforcement Procedures During Hostilities Abroad.)