{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-warren-rep-norcross-press-pentagon-on-refusal-to-provide-justification-for-cuts-to-independent-weapons-testing-office", "Sen. Warren, Rep. Norcross Press Pentagon on Refusal to Provide Justification for Cuts to Independent Weapons Testing Office", "2025-10-16", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", "warren", "https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "Sen. Warren, Rep. Norcross Press Pentagon on Refusal to Provide Justification for Cuts to Independent Weapons Testing Office\n\nMembers concerned by $74.5 billion in taxpayer dollars at risk of going without oversight, along with threats to national security and service member safety\n\nPentagon appears to have provided Congress with inaccurate information on office\u2019s oversight list\n\n\u201cThere is no evidence that DoD has assessed the operational and financial risks of slashing the (weapons testing) office, and whether this action puts our national security objectives at risk.\u201d\n\nText of Letter (PDF)\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Following the Pentagon\u2019s refusal to explain massive cuts to the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), the independent military weapons testing office, and the Pentagon\u2019s decision to remove even more weapons programs from DOT&E\u2019s oversight list, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Donald Norcross (D-N.J.), members of the Senate and House Armed Services committees, wrote to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegeseth to press for more information and urge the Department of Defense (DoD) to reverse its cuts and restore oversight to the nearly 100 programs cut from the DOT&E oversight list.\n\n\u201cWe remain concerned these reckless decisions undermine readiness and will result in substantial waste of taxpayer dollars while putting servicemembers\u2019 lives at risk,\u201d said the lawmakers.\n\nIn June, Senator Warren raised concerns about Secretary Hegseth\u2019s decision to cut DOT&E\u2019s budget by nearly 80% and its staff by about 74%.\n\n\u201cThe cuts and reductions to this office created fears that\u2026they would cut so deep the office would no longer be able to even meet its basic statutory functions,\u201d the lawmakers said.\n\nIn August, the Pentagon responded to Senator Warren, saying the cuts were based on a \u201ccomprehensive internal review,\u201d but failed to provide any study or analysis to justify the cuts or any cost savings associated with the move.\n\nThe Pentagon also responded with a list of the office\u2019s \u201ccurrent oversight\u201d list, listing 251 programs on the list. But two days later, the DOT&E\u2019s quietly updated its website and eliminated 94 programs, a 37% reduction that cuts testing for at least $74.5 billion of weapons systems, while backdating the list to late July. The lawmakers said the move raises concerns that the Pentagon was \u201cpurposely inaccurate\u201d in its response to Congress.\n\nDOT&E plays an important role in helping the military complete vigorous testing for safety, survivability, and suitability for programs like the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program, which would phase in the UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter fleet. The program was cut from DOT&E\u2019s oversight list in the purge, even though the Army is attempting to accelerate the fleet\u2019s implementation.\n\nOther top DoD priorities that have been inexplicably removed from DOT&E\u2019s oversight list are the Enterprise Space-Based Missile Warning and Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, which could enable the Golden Dome architecture.\n\n\u201cIf homeland missile defense is truly a top priority for the Department, rigorous testing and oversight is vital to ensure the systems are integrated and that funding is not being wasted on systems that do not tie into the broader architecture,\u201d said the lawmakers.\n\n\u201cThe decision to further purge the DOT&E office by cutting nearly 100 programs from its oversight list jeopardizes military readiness, puts the safety of our servicemembers at risk, and increases the risk of waste and abuse of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars. We ask that you reverse these cuts,\u201d concluded Senator Warren and Representative Norcross.\n\nThe lawmakers asked the Defense Department to provide, by October 30, 2025, answers to their questions, including the Pentagon\u2019s plan for ensuring that taxpayer funds are not wasted due to deficiencies in programs removed from the oversight list, a justification for each program removed from DOT&E\u2019s oversight list, and whether the Department consulted with the defense industry on which programs to cut from the list.\n\nSenator Warren has consistently fought to protect the independence of DOT&E:\n\nIn August 2025, Senator Warren questioned Dr. Amy Henninger, nominee for Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), about her commitment to the independence of the weapons testing office.\n\nIn June 2025, Senator Warren criticized Secretary Hegseth\u2019s drastic cuts to DOT&E and requested the Pentagon provide any study or analysis used to justify the cuts.\n\nIn December 2022, Senator Warren secured legislation in the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that reiterates the importance of annual weapon testing reports remaining available to the public.\n\nIn February 2022, Senator Warren wrote to then-Director of DOT&E and then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, III to raise concerns about DOT&E\u2019s lack of transparency, related to its decision to release its annual report on the performance of U.S. weapons as a controlled unclassified version.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "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.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-warren-rep-norcross-press-pentagon-on-refusal-to-provide-justification-for-cuts-to-independent-weapons-testing-office"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.050582017749548, "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"}