{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=01A79A06-944C-4BA1-9260-DD1DF058DAC5", "Ranking Member Carper Questions Defense Secretary on Reports of $125 Billion in Wasted Taxpayer Dollars", "2016-12-12", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Thomas Carper", "C000174", "www.carper.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON\u2014 Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Defense (DOD), Ashton Carter, seeking information on DOD\u2019s efforts to implement recommendations from the Defense Business Board\u2019s recent study which found DOD could save $125 billion over five years through streamlined operations.\r\nRanking Member Carper pressed Secretary Carter on reports that these cost-saving recommendations have been purposefully ignored, writing, \u201cSenior DOD officials reportedly expressed concerns in the spring of 2015 that the report\u2019s findings regarding cost savings might undermine the justification for the agency\u2019s budget requests to Congress. In addition, a copy of the report was reportedly taken down from the Board\u2019s public website and public mentions of the report were discouraged.\u201d\r\nSenator Carper requested more information on DOD\u2019s efforts to implement the report\u2019s recommendations and reduce wasteful spending, stating, \u201cAlthough DOD may have already taken steps to address some of the report\u2019s recommendations, Congress has a responsibility to ensure that our nation\u2019s military achieves its mission in a manner that uses taxpayer dollars as effectively and efficiently as possible. By targeting wasteful spending, we can be better stewards of taxpayer dollars.\u201d\r\nThe full text of the letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter can be found below and here.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\r\nDear Secretary Carter:\r\nI write today to request information regarding the Department of Defense\u2019s (DOD) response to the Defense Business Board\u2019s (the Board) recent study, entitled Transforming DoD\u2019s Core Business Processes for Revolutionary Change, and any plans to implement its recommendations.\r\nAccording to news reports, DOD commissioned the Board to conduct the study in order to create a financial baseline to evaluate the cost effectiveness of DOD\u2019s core business operations. The Board found that six core business processes at the Department employed over 1 million people at a cost of $134 billion per year\u2014almost double previous cost estimates. The Board also found that DOD could save $125 billion over five years by implementing the report\u2019s recommendations, primarily through improving contracts, encouraging early retirements, modernizing information technology, and reorganizing DOD programs.\r\nHowever, it appears the Board\u2019s recommendations have largely been ignored. Senior DOD officials reportedly expressed concerns in the spring of 2015 that the report\u2019s findings regarding cost savings might undermine the justification for the agency\u2019s budget requests to Congress. In addition, a copy of the report was reportedly taken down from the Board\u2019s public website and public mentions of the report were discouraged.\r\nAlthough DOD may have already taken steps to address some of the report\u2019s recommendations, Congress has a responsibility to ensure that our nation\u2019s military achieves its mission in a manner that uses taxpayer dollars as effectively and efficiently as possible. By targeting wasteful spending, we can be better stewards of taxpayer dollars\r\nTo better understand how DOD plans to implement the report\u2019s recommendations and reduce wasteful spending, I ask that you please provide the following information by January 9, 2017:\r\n \r\nA final copy of the full the Board\u2019s January 2015 report.\r\nSenior department officials reportedly critiqued the conclusions of the Board\u2019s study as unrealistic.\u00a0Please explain with specificity which cost savings opportunities identified in the Board\u2019s study are unrealistic, and why.\u00a0\r\n\r\nIf cost savings would be realistic on a longer timeline, please explain.\r\nIf cost savings are deemed unrealistic because of constraints that may be within the power of Congress to alter, please identify those as well.\u00a0\r\n\r\nDeputy Secretary Robert Work\u2019s written statement in response to the Washington Post notes a longstanding concern that the Budget Control Act and subsequent budget agreements result in \u201cbudget instability\u201d which makes achieving the $125 billion in savings identified by the report \u201cunrealistic.\u201d Please explain why this is the case.\r\nDeputy Secretary Work\u2019s written statement in response to the Washington Post article also mentions that the Deputy Chief Management Officer and Chief Information Officer of the Department are \u201cfocusing\u201d on reducing costs associated with information technology.\u00a0 This response does not address the recommendation by the Board to fundamentally restructure the responsibilities of these offices to achieve that end.\u00a0 Please identify what effort has been made within DOD, or in conjunction with others such as the Office of Management and Budget, to refine and implement this recommendation.\r\nThe frequent change in leadership at DOD has previously been identified as an impediment to implementing similar cost-improvement initiatives. What could be done to ensure the continuity of these cost-savings efforts during the transition to the next administration?\r\n \r\nThank you for your attention to this matter.\r\nWith best personal regards, I am\r\nSincerely yours,\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\r\nTom Carper\r\nRanking Member\r\n\u00a0\r\ncc: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Honorable Ron Johnson\r\nChairman\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=01A79A06-944C-4BA1-9260-DD1DF058DAC5"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7932052724063396, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}