The Department of Defense asked Congress on Wednesday for the authority to transfer $9.7 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as Congress continues to debate a massive war supplemental spending bill.

The Pentagon said the emergency request to borrow or transfer funds from other areas was necessary because Congress has not yet finished its work on the massive bill, which would provide over $160 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through next year.

“Congressional approval of this $9.7 billion reprogramming [request] will only allow another few weeks of operations until the department as a whole runs out of critical funding,” read a statement posted Thursday on the Department of Defense website. “Should Congress fail to pass the [war supplemental] by mid-July, the department will have exhausted all military personnel and operations funding and will, at minimum, be unable to make payroll for both military and civilian personnel throughout the department.” ....