Can Armed Services Committee Be Trusted With Reform?
Last week Congressman Ike Skelton, chair of the House Armed Services Committee, joined Republican John McHugh in announcing the formation of a Panel on Defense Acquisition Reform.
Representative Skelton described the problems in the Department of Defense’s acquisition process - the means through which its spending on weapons is administered - as “particularly severe”. That’s an honest and accurate assessment, but it’s worth asking how the problem in military waste has been allowed become so severe.
Just who has had the authority to conduct oversight of the defense acquisition process all this time? Why, the House Armed Services Committee has, with Representatives Skelton and McHugh holding prime responsibility for their political parties.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Ike Skelton has received $1,097,393.00 from military contractors. McHugh has received $195,400.00.
Can these particular members of Congress, who have received so much money from the big players in the defense acquisition process, and who have presided over the growth of the current problems in the process, be trusted to chart a path of true reform?