WISH THE LISTS AWAY: Five fiscal watchdog groups are pressing House leaders to grant a vote on an NDAA amendment to repeal the legal requirement for military services and combatant commands to submit wish lists to Congress each year.
In a letter on the NDAA proposal sent to House Rules Chair Michael Burgess and ranking Democrat Jim McGovern, the groups argued that the process of submitting priorities that didn’t make the cut for the annual budget results in waste and undermines civilian control over Pentagon spending by circumventing the regular budget processes. They also cited Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s support for removing the requirement for the wish lists.
What they said: “National security spending should reflect a holistic assessment of needs, and the Pentagon agrees that unfunded priority lists are not helpful in meeting the military’s priorities,” the groups wrote. “Therefore, we ask that you allow a debate and vote on the amendment to repeal this requirement.”
Signing on: The letter was signed by the National Taxpayers Union, the Project on Government Oversight, R Street, Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.