Congress still trying to figure out how to reduce wasteful military spending

It’s no secret the United States spends extraordinary sums on the military. Congress approved an $824 billion budget for the Pentagon for 2024. However, not all that money goes to good use. 

“How much do you think the Air Force pays for this bag of bushings?” Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., asked Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall during a recent hearing. 

“I don’t know, congressman,” Sec. Kendall said. 

“$90,000,” Waltz told him as he held up a small bag that fit in his hand.

There’s a bipartisan effort to reduce wasteful and ill-advised spending. 

“The interest on our debt alone is now exceeding the entire defense budget. We can’t afford it anymore,” Waltz said. 

Here are a few examples of waste: 

The Littoral Combat Ship costs have soared from $200 million per unit to $600 million. 

The Gerald R. Ford class aircraft carrier program was initially projected to cost $13.3 billion but it skyrocketed to more than $120 billion. 

Some of the waste is attributed to mistakes and disorganization. Some of it is blamed on price gouging.

In 2023, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said contractors routinely overcharge the military by 40%-50%, with the highest incident hitting 4,451%. 

“The department has consistently failed comprehensive audits revealing significant problems in accounting and data management,” Rep. Glenn Grothman R-Wis., said during a recent oversight hearing. “The lack of financial accountability leads to waste and abuse of taxpayer funds.”

There are multiple solutions to this issue. One solution is to be smarter about which tools are used in certain situations. For instance, the U.S. has fired $2.1 million missiles to shoot down $2,000 Houthi drones in the Middle East. 

“The American taxpayer cannot afford to spend millions of dollars on single shot missiles when more cost effective solutions would exist to counter $100 drones,” Rep. Glenn Grothman R-Wis., said. “We must not act like money is free.” 

Another solution is to open up government contracts to more businesses, particularly small businesses. 

“I’m very concerned that the department has grown so reliant on a shrinking number of commercial firms which stifles competition and leads to increased costs,” Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said.

Moshe Schwartz with the National Defense Industrial Association, summed up the problem from his perspective, “It is the regulations, it is the bureaucracy. “

However, for all the efforts to fix this, it doesn’t look like it’ll be entirely solved any time soon. The Pentagon has failed six audits in a row and the problems run deep.