Lawmakers Should Listen to the Budget Hawks, Not the Defense Hawks March 19, 2015 By Lt. General Robert Gard and Angela Canterbury There are plenty of ways the Pentagon could spend its money more efficiently. As McCain well knows, one of the most serious financial problems facing the nation is how so many taxpayer dollars […]
Letter to Congress on Cuts to Fiscal Year 2016 Pentagon Budget
Tuesday, March 17, 2015 The Honorable Mike Enzi Chairman Senate Committee on the Budget 379A Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 The Honorable Tom Price, M.D. Chairman House Committee on the Budget 100 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 The Honorable Bernie Sanders Ranking Member Senate Committee on the Budget 332 Dirksen Senate […]
The Big Bad Sequester Wolf
Sequestration, the budget mechanism that kicks in if and only if Congress does not budget to the caps set under the 2011 Budget Control Act, has been framed as the big bad wolf of Washington. But this frequent mischaracterization of sequestration as a vague, threatening entity neglects a key facet of budget construction: sequestration won’t kick in unless Congress fails to do its job.
Audit the Pentagon Act of 2015 — Answering the Question: How is the Taxpayer Dollar Spent?
This month, Representative Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) introduced the bipartisan Audit the Pentagon Act of 2015, (H.R. 942) co-sponsored by Mike Burgess (R-Texas) and five others. It aims to do exactly what it says: audit the Pentagon. Why, you ask? Because unlike every other federal agency required by law to undergo an audit, the Department of Defense (DoD) has never done so.
Weapons Acquisition and Contract Management Make GAO’s High Risk List – Again
Last week, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released its biennial update to its High Risk List – a compilation of government programs that are identified as “high risk due to their greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement or the need for transformation to address economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges.” Department of Defense weapon systems acquisition and Department of Energy contract management have both been on the GAO’s High Risk List for the last 25 years.
