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Press Release Published: Dec 8, 2016

Committee Requests Information on Pentagon’s $125 Billion in Waste

Committee Requests Information on Pentagon’s $125 Billion in Waste
Members Send Bipartisan Letter to Defense Secretary
Washington, D.C. – Today, a group of 31 bipartisan members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent a letter to U.S. Department of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter requesting information on the Defense Business Board (DBB) Study and the Department’s response to its findings.
Recent news reports suggest the DBB Study recommended $125 billion in savings which were ignored by the Department. Specifically the letter states:
“… we question why learning about potential savings that would be enough to ‘cover the operational costs for 50 Army brigades, or 3,000 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the Air Force, or 10 aircraft-carrier strike groups for the Navy,’ would not also be a priority.”
In addition to a briefing, the Committee requested all documents or communications referring or relating to:
  • any meetings with Deputy Secretary of Defense Work related to the DBB Study;
  • the Defense Business Board’s, or any of its members’, efforts to discuss the DBB Study with you;
  • your decision to replace Robert Stein with Michael Bayer as Chairman of the Defense Business Board;
  • costs and potential savings of back-office operations at the Department, including any cost data or assumptions generated or considered by the DBB.
  • any of the recommendations from the Study the Pentagon is considering adopting; and
  • a complete copy of the DBB Study; and
  • a copy of the 77-page summary report that was made public and subsequently removed from the Pentagon’s website.
In additional to Chairman Chaffetz and Ranking Member Cummings, letter signatories include:
Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI)
Rep. Rod Blum (R-IA)
Rep. Brendan F. Boyle (D-PA)
Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO)
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ)
Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA)
Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN)
Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL)
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA)
Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX)
Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM)
Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-AZ)
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC)
Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI)
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH)
Rep. Robin L. Kelly (D-IL)
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA)
Rep. Brenda L. Lawrence (D-MI)
Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA)
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY)
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC)
Rep. Elanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
Rep. Stacey E. Plaskett (D-VI)
Rep. Steve Russell (R-OK)
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI)
Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC)
Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT)