Press Release
Pentagon Budget Expert William Hartung Joins POGO as Principal Advisor
As the Pentagon pushes for a record budget and military spending draws scrutiny, POGO is expanding its capacity to hold power accountable.
Washington, D.C. — William Hartung, one of the nation’s leading experts on the Pentagon budget and the arms industry, will join the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) on September 1. As the Pentagon seeks record funding, Hartung will contribute public commentary and analysis on where that money goes, the growing influence of the military tech industry, and the domestic use of military forces, helping expand POGO’s reach on Pentagon accountability issues.
Hartung’s ties to POGO’s Center for Defense Information (CDI) run deep. Years ago, he worked with a former CDI director to develop a new budget analysis methodology the organization still uses today. POGO now brings that expertise fully in-house.
“Americans are being asked to fund the largest Pentagon budget in history while many families struggle to make ends meet. Yet the public still gets too few answers about where that money goes, what it achieves, and who benefits,” said Isabel Munilla, interim executive director of POGO. “For decades, Bill Hartung has helped answer those questions by exposing waste, scrutinizing defense contractors, and bringing greater transparency to one of the largest and least understood areas of federal spending. We’re thrilled to welcome him to POGO.”
Prior to joining POGO, Hartung was a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute. Hartung previously directed the Arms and Security Program at the Center for International Policy, and served as co-director of its Sustainable Defense Task Force. He has testified before Congress on Pentagon spending and arms industry oversight.
Hartung recently coauthored The Trillion Dollar War Machine, alongside Ben Freeman. He is also the author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex. He writes regularly for Forbes, The Nation, and Responsible Statecraft. His articles have also appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Newsweek, The National Interest, and the Los Angeles Times. He has appeared as a national security expert on 60 Minutes, NBC Nightly News, PBS NewsHour, CNN, and Fox News.
“It is an honor to join POGO, which has done so much to make our government more accountable and transparent,” said William Hartung. “Those gains are now being threatened by a concerted attempt to destroy the very institutions designed to ensure our government answers to taxpayers. This is not a moment that allows for patience — it demands action now, while there is still time to act. I am pleased to be working with the skilled, dedicated staff at POGO to build a government free of corruption and abuse of power.”
Hartung’s analysis of Pentagon spending, the military tech industry, and the domestic use of military force will appear on POGO’s website in the coming weeks. He is available for interviews on defense budget oversight, emerging military technology issues, and domestic militarization.
