Funding restricted for Ford-class carriers.

• Position: Budget Matters

* Lawmakers are pushing new funding restrictions in an effort to control the costs of Ford-class aircraft carriers.

The Senate's version of the fiscal year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act reduces the procurement cost cap for CVN-79, the USS John F. Kennedy, and subsequent aircraft carriers by $100 million, bringing it down to $11.4 billion. In comparison, the cost of the CVN-78, the USS Gerald R. Ford, has risen to $12.8 billion.

The Obama administration strongly objected to the move.

"A $100 million reduction would degrade the capabilities of the CVN-79 and follow-on ships or increase the risk of a breach of the cap," the administration said in a statement about the legislation, which President Barack Obama has threatened to veto. "The current cost cap represents a significant reduction from CVN-78 and will be challenging to achieve. Further reductions may impact the delivery of integral warfighting capability."

The Senate also voted to limit $191.4 million in advance procurement funds for CVN-80, the USS Enterprise, until the secretary of the Navy certifies that the CVN-80 design will mirror the CVN-79 design and provides a detailed justification of the CVN-80 plans and costs.

The administration warned about the potential consequences of the provision.

"This funding reduction would present unacceptable risk to CVN-80 being delivered on schedule and would result in a significant increase to the ship's cost," the administration said in a statement. "A delay in delivering CVN-80 would result in unacceptable risk in the Department of the...