Pentagon Study Says Congress Wastes Millions

Congress wastes millions of dollars by loading down the Defense Department budget with special tidbits for constituents and by imposing excessive restraints on spending programs, a Pentagon draft report says.

In its study, the Pentagon, which is often at odds with Congress, speaks in bitter terms about the “pervasive nature of congressional intervention.”

It said of the money earmarked for specific recipients: “These earmarks frequently have little direct relation to genuine defense needs. In other cases, earmarks represent mandates to spend funds on what are clearly low-priority items.”

The Pentagon study also cited the increase in the number of reports required by Congress and the requirements imposed on employment levels and technology.

Limits on specific programs proved costly, the report said. In a review of 42 program requirements in the 1989 budget cycle, the requirements increased costs in 75% of the cases, at a cost of more than $800 million over the life of the programs, it said.

The Pentagon cited no examples of program requirements, but they might include such things as requiring a research project to meet certain goals before more money could be allocated.

Congressional sources, who spoke on condition that they not be identified, called some of the complaints ridiculous, and noted that in 1984 Congress tried to cut the number of reports but the Pentagon balked. In addition, the budget line items often reflect a policy difference between Congress and the Pentagon.

The report recommends two-year budgets and multi-year procurements as possible solutions to the problems.