Congressman DeSaulnier: “DoD had so much extra money and so little oversight that it left $28 billion on the table”
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) released the following statement after a new report by the Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General detailed that the Department of Defense let $28 billion in funding expire. The DoD was given this funding with the requirement that it be spent in a certain time frame, which the DoD did not meet.
"The Department of Defense is plagued by a lack of transparency and accountability. Last year alone, the DoD had so much extra money and so little oversight that it left $28 billion on the table. Despite having a clearly bloated budget, the agency continues to ask for more and more money, and Congress keeps writing them blank checks. We must reevaluate where we invest our resources, and push for a better, more complete picture of the DoD's finances in order to correct course and address departmental waste, while still protecting our troops and their families at home and abroad."
This Inspector General report was released in response to the DoD completing its first-ever, comprehensive audit in November 2018. Congressman DeSaulnier has introduced the Department of Defense Waste Reduction Act (H.R. 2367 in the 115th Congress) to prevent the DoD from receiving any additional funding until wasteful spending practices within the Department are addressed. Additionally, he and Congresswoman Jackie Speier successfully requested Congressional hearings to investigate the DoD's spending practices. Since coming to Congress, DeSaulnier has never voted in favor of the annual bill to authorize defense spending.
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