Incoming Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) will be tasked with developing plans to cut trillions of dollars in spending, based on the ideas being floated by the Trump transition team. While there are always challenges to implement such proposals, mostly from members of Congress, any suggestions to cut defense spending will face a particularly tough fight. However, Director Mulvaney should be a good fit for this effort. During his tenure in the House of Representatives, he established a track record of pushing to reduce both domestic and defense spending.
Anachronistic Earmark Offering from Culberson, Rogers, and Rooney
Americans might fondly remember 2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was the top grossing movie, Sexyback by Justin Timberlake was at the top of the charts, and Bob Barker announced his retirement from The Price is Right.
Procurement Blues: Competition Needed to Fix Defense Contracting
Upon assuming the office of Secretary of Defense in February 2015, Ashton Carter prioritized recruiting private sector companies – especially those in technology industries – to bid on contracts awarded by the Department of Defense (DOD).
Show Me the Budget
Americans might fondly remember many experiences from 1996, including watching “Independence Day” and “Jerry Maguire,” reading about the cloning of Dolly the sheep, dancing to the Macarena, and surfing new websites such as Ask Jeeves and eBay.
SIGAR: U.S. Facilitated Afghan Corruption, Reacted Slowly
The first in a series of “lessons learned” reports released in September 2016 by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko has indicated that the U.S. introduced billions of dollars of aid into a corrupt system, sometimes benefiting militia members and warlords. According to the report, in some instances, U.S. aid […]
Movement to Audit the Pentagon Gains Traction
Consensus in the nation’s capital is rare. Agreement between Republicans and Democrats is typically confined to a belief that Washington, D.C. is miserably hot this time of year, and therefore the summer recess should last as long as possible. However, the release of the official party platforms for 2016 has revealed another area of solidarity: auditing the Pentagon.
Movement to Audit the Pentagon Gaining Speed
Consensus in the nation’s capital is rare. Agreement between Republicans and Democrats is typically confined to a belief that Washington, D.C. is miserably hot this time of year, and therefore the summer Congressional recess should last as long as possible. With the release of the official party platforms for 2016, another area of consensus has […]
Boeing on the Hook for Failures of New Air Force Tanker
Pegasus, the mythological white winged horse that sprang forth from the neck of Medusa, never had any problem taking off; however, the same is not true for the horse’s namesake aircraft, the KC-46 tanker.
New Air Force Tanker Unable to Refuel Planes
Boeing is set to miss a significant contractual deadline in its KC-46 tanker program. According to a May 27, 2016 Defense News article, the contractor was supposed to deliver 18 aircraft to the Air Force by August 2017, the latest (and most significant) of many delays in the KC-46 program. The planes will now arrive […]
Fiscal Year 2017 Appropriations: Poor Track Record, Poor Outlook
In January 2016, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared their intention to punctually approve the 12 appropriations bills that fund the federal government. Perhaps this declaration was designed to mark the ten-year anniversary of the last time this feat was accomplished, in fiscal year (FY) 2006.