President Bush warned in his national radio address on Saturday that the Defense Department will not be able to pay troops next month and civilian Defense workers could face layoffs if Congress does not pass the 2008 emergency war supplemental bill soon.

In a related development, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that spiraling fuel costs have imposed an additional burden on the Defense budget. 'Every time the price of oil goes up by $1 per barrel, it costs us about $130 million -- and frankly, my credit card limit is getting narrow on that,' Gates told the Asia Security Summit last week.

In May, the Pentagon asked Congress for approval to transfer nearly $10 billion from Navy and Air Force budgets to pay soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan before the Army budget runs out in July.