Washington, DC – On Thursday, Representatives Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) and Jackie Speier (CA-14) sent a letter to the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee calling on both committees to investigate troubling claims related to wasteful spending in the U.S. Department of Defense. Earlier this week, a Department of Defense report that identified a $125 billion in potential wasteful spending was uncovered by the Washington Post.
“It is deeply concerning to discover that Pentagon officials may have buried a report that identifies $125 billion in wasteful spending rather than provide their findings to Congress. Equally troubling is the amount of waste identified is more than the entire Department of Education budget and is more than three times budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Clearly our national budget priorities are askew. Since the Pentagon has never undergone a full audit, I call on my colleagues in Congress to investigate if taxpayer dollars are being spent effectively,” said Congressman DeSaulnier.
“It’s outrageous that Congress is forced to find out through the media that the Pentagon has squandered $125 billion in budget savings. That wasteful spending is 20 times greater than the additional funding Congress recently provided to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and more than the entirety of what our federal government contributes to our nation’s educational system annually,” said Congresswoman Speier. “Instead of streamlining their operations the Pentagon buried their unacceptable waste and inefficiency behind a veil of secrecy. We must uphold our oversight duties under the Constitution and hold the Department of Defense accountable for these mismanaged billions.”
The study conducted by the Defense Business Board provided a “clear path” for the DOD to save the identified funding over the course of five years without requiring layoffs or military personnel reductions.
