Cooper, OGR Members Call for Investigation into “Buried” Pentagon Study

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) and other members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today called for an investigation related to an internal Pentagon study that identified $125 billion in potential savings, but never saw the light of day.

The Washington Post this week described a “buried” study that – if implemented – would have made the Pentagon’s “enormous back-office bureaucracy more efficient”; the study’s proposals “would not have required layoffs of civil servants or reductions in military personnel.” Savings were set to be reinvested in combat power.

“Congress needs to investigate why the Pentagon suppressed this report,” Rep. Cooper said. “It is outrageous that the Pentagon could be wasting so much money.”

According to the Post, the $125 billion would be enough to “cover the operational costs for 50 Army brigades, or 3,000 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the Air Force, or 10 aircraft-carrier strike groups for the Navy.”

The letter, sent to Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, requests that Pentagon officials send documents and correspondence related to the study for further investigation.

A copy of the letter can be viewed here.