Weekly Spotlight: Soap dispensers wash away taxpayer dollars

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The Pentagon’s budget has been steadily climbing to ridiculous heights. Yet big spending doesn’t necessarily equate to smart spending. In fact, we know that the Pentagon is overspending on weapons and the spare parts needed to maintain them.

This week, we learned from a Pentagon inspector general report that Boeing sold soap dispensers to the U.S. Air Force at a nearly 8,000% mark up. In this most recent case alone, the defense contractor overcharged the taxpayers by nearly $1 million on spare parts, including the soap dispensers.

Defense contractors like Boeing and RTX (Raytheon) have made a habit of price gouging the Pentagon, and the government is letting them. A lack of competition and transparency in contract negotiations has made it so that the government is paying whatever contractors deem is a “fair” price (often as far from fair as they can manage) for what they’re selling. They overcharge the Pentagon on everything, down to the literal nuts and bolts, and the Pentagon obliges by not questioning the prices, wasting billions of taxpayer dollars in irresponsible spending.

But POGO’s working to protect taxpayer dollars by advocating to close the loopholes that enable this price gouging. Earlier this year, we testified in the House about how Congress can strengthen accountability and improve transparency in the Pentagon’s acquisition processes. And there’s already been some encouraging signs: Lawmakers introduced amendments to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act that could level the playing field during negotiations and close some of the loopholes that enable these spare parts shake downs.

It’s critical that Congress do what is necessary to prevent millions in taxpayer dollars from being squandered on items that you could buy from a local hardware store. Add your name to demand action from Congress for smarter Pentagon spending.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The [Federal Aviation Administration]’s response would be laughable if it weren’t so discordant with the facts. For the FAA to claim that it is not a revolving door to industry is to tell us not to believe our lying eyes; truly Orwellian stuff.”

Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, Director of Government Affairs, in Seattle Times

ONE LINERS

“[But] it certainly raises the question: If you’re big enough, are you subject to some leeway in terms of what you can get away with, if the government thinks you’re too big to fail.”

Greg Williams, Director of the Center for Defense Information, on Federal News Network