NW Kentucky News

The Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs convened a hearing titled “Wasteful Spending and Inefficiencies: Examining DoD Platform Performance and Costs.” The session focused on the need for enhanced oversight and enforcement mechanisms to manage taxpayer dollars more effectively within Department of Defense (DoD) programs. Members also discussed how excessive regulations and bureaucracy have led to a reduced military contractor base, limiting contract avenues, stifling competition, and increasing costs.

Key points raised during the hearing included cost overruns and performance issues in various DoD programs. Modern mechanisms like improved data analytics were highlighted as essential tools for reducing costs and enhancing efficiency. Moshe Schwartz, Senior Fellow at the National Defense Industrial Association, emphasized that the U.S. defense acquisition system is slow, costly, and often fails to adopt cutting-edge industry capabilities. He stated, “Data analytics can improve all aspects of procurement... DoD’s IT systems too often are insecure, unreliable, and incomplete.”

The hearing also addressed accountability issues within the DoD culture regarding cost overruns and missed performance targets. Mackenzie Eaglen from the American Enterprise Institute noted that fixed-price contracts often fail to project costs accurately beyond initial units, leading to waste without recourse: “The Pentagon is a difficult and poor customer who lacks flexibility in contracts...”

Chairman Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) criticized inefficiencies within the F-35 program due to significant cost overruns. He cited a GAO study revealing substantial losses in spare parts by a prime contractor: “What do you believe can be done to increase accountability within this program?”

Eaglen responded by highlighting cultural issues within the DoD: “There is a culture problem at the Defense Department... avoiding joint programs at all costs is one way to get better oversight.”

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) pointed out that overburdensome regulation has decreased small business participation in defense contracting, consolidating the market and raising costs. Schwartz confirmed this issue with data showing a 43 percent decrease in small businesses contracting with DoD from FY10 to FY20.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) questioned when it becomes necessary for the DoD to seek alternative solutions rather than continuing to fund problematic programs like the F-35: “At what point do we say we’ve made a mistake here?”

Mr. Clark agreed with Perry's concerns about mission capability rates being lower than expected due to unforeseen complexities in aircraft requirements.

Further details of this discussion can be found [here](#).