Weekly Spotlight: Noteworthy provisions in the Pentagon Budget Bill
The House voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week, and there are a few provisions for increased accountability at the Pentagon that are worth celebrating.
Editor’s Note: This is our last edition of Weekly Spotlight for the year. We will be back on January 11, 2025. Happy holidays!
The House voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week, and there are a few provisions for increased accountability at the Pentagon that are worth celebrating.
The fiscal year 2025 NDAA includes language that would limit the number of F-35’s the Pentagon can take possession of until there is a plan in place to address a number of the issues with the fighter jets — a win for negotiating accountability for the Pentagon’s incredibly troubled weapons system, albeit a long past due one.
Additional provisions would improve tracking of military housing complaints to strengthen oversight of the private companies with the housing contracts, and increase transparency around when former senior government officials take jobs working for foreign interests — a revolving door we’ve highlighted in the past in our investigation into a wave of retired and Reserve military personnel taking highly lucrative jobs working for foreign interests.
The massive bill now makes its way to the Senate for its vote. And as worthwhile as it is to note the wins, there are still a number of concerning issues in the NDAA. One is a provision to ban gender-affirming care for service members’ children under the military’s health care program. The Senate must excise the discriminatory provision in its version of the bill — the NDAA should support and protect military families and should not be weaponized against them.
ANALYSIS
F-35 Testing Report Reveals Problems with Production Decisions
The decision to enter full rate production on the flawed F-35 shows that current statutes do not support sufficient congressional oversight.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“They're trying to take advantage of President-elect Trump's popularity and the fact that he just won an election, and see if they can get this business up and running and off the ground.”
Scott Amey, General Counsel, in ABC News
ONE LINERS
“We’re always very concerned with the sort of trading on the family name stuff that happens in politics and the conflicts of interest that stem from that.”
Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Director of Government Affairs, in Al-Jazeera
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