A recent Pentagon report citing $1.1 trillion in fraud by defense contractors has lawmakers pushing for cuts in defense spending, The Hill reports.
Bernie Sanders touts the report as proof the Department of Defense can reign in spending by cracking down on fraud and malfeasance — and not by hallowing the force.
The Department of Defense has already been targeted for $350 billion in budget cuts as a result of last August’s debt deal. But this new report has some lawmakers calling for more.
Sanders, summarizing the internal Pentagon report, saying, “[More than $250 million] went to 54 contractors convicted of hard-core criminal fraud in the same period. Of that total, $33 million was paid to companies after they were convicted of crimes.”
Two major scandals unveiled in the report involve $10.5 million spent by Lockheed Martin in 2008 to settle fraud charges and $62 million paid by Northrop Grumman in 2005 to settle fraud scheme allegations.
Yet other lawmakers stress that the Pentagon isn’t wasting money, but rather lawmakers are to blame for ordering “unnecessary projects, superfluous tests, reports and contracting procedures.”
Scott Amey, general counsel for the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight, argued last Friday, “The amount of money given to these companies is staggering, but what really is mind-boggling is the willingness of the DoD to provide additional taxpayer dollars to the same back actors again and again. Taxpayers are unlikely to see any changes until DoD holds contractors more accountable — especially those defrauding the government.”
