Groups Urge Restraint on Pentagon Spending
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ten national organizations spanning the policy spectrum today joined forces to urge congressional leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to reject the Senate’s proposed $32 billion increase in Pentagon spending above the president’s request, and retain positive provisions from both bills strengthening oversight and accountability in Pentagon spending.
The following quotes are the perspectives of three signatories who co-led the letter. The quotes are emblematic of the diverse opinions on the overall size and scope of government among the 10 organizations; yet all signatories share a common concern over the size and scope of Pentagon spending.
“This letter reflects a broad policy consensus that throwing money at the national security challenges we face is not a solution unto itself,” said Steve Ellis, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “Smart national security requires smart, disciplined, and strategic spending. Piling $32 billion on top of the 13 percent increase requested in the budget isn’t any of those things. Beyond basic fiscal discipline, simple reforms like giving servicemembers the tools to repair their own equipment and strengthening oversight when programs go over budget are just common sense.”
“The Pentagon budget is chronically overfunded and underexamined,” said Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen. “This letter reflects overwhelming bipartisan agreement that the Pentagon must both pass its audit or face financial penalties and subject all Pentagon programs to critical cost analyses. Legislators must pass these provisions without granting Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon an additional dollar on top of the president’s already inflated budget request.”
“For decades, elected officials have been rewarding the Pentagon’s fiscal failures with more money, from both current and future taxpayers,” said Pete Sepp, president of National Taxpayers Union. “We must chart a different policy course, because the final destination we are headed for now is America’s bankruptcy. The reforms championed in this letter could finally begin reversing our government’s habit of spending money out of an empty pocket.”