Air Force Times reports that “Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he would accept Republican lawmakers’ plan to fully fund defense programs in fiscal 2016 through temporary war accounts because ‘there’s no alternative right now.'”  

“His position is at odds with current Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who has repeatedly backed a presidential veto of any appropriations bill taking that approach.”  

“But Gates did stop short of offering a heartfelt endorsement of the idea.  

“‘It’s a terrible way to budget,’ he told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. ‘It is a gimmick … a hell of a way to run a railroad.'”