John Boozman Raises Concerns Over Potential 'PLA' Leading To 'Stalled' Military Construction Efforts

7 months ago

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) questioned Pentagon officials and military leaders about the President Trump's FY 2026 budget request for military construction, and the impact of project labor agreements.

Transcript

00:00Thank you very much. Thank you for your testimony.

00:04We'll get started with our questions.

00:08I had the opportunity to go to the

00:12Army Museum over the weekend. I saw a little blurb

00:16on one of the morning shows about the new exhibit there.

00:20And it's in the Army Museum, but it really is about

00:24the fighting patriots that really

00:28were so a step forward at the time

00:32of crisis as our country was beginning, but I'd really recommend that all

00:36of you go and see it. It's outstanding. Again, it's in the Army Museum,

00:40but it's really not an Army Museum, an Army exhibit in the sense

00:44that that same spirit is what

00:48embodies you all, the people that have served since then

00:52that have done such a tremendous job of keeping us safe, keeping us free,

00:56sacrifices of you in uniform, and your families.

01:00It certainly is a family affair.

01:02And we're going to be talking about

01:04housing, all of the things that we can do to keep

01:06you know,

01:08families together,

01:10you know, that aspect of

01:12things. So let's start out with Mr.

01:14Marks. Mr. Marks, given the ongoing

01:16legal uncertainty surrounding project labor

01:18agreements, how is the department

01:20managing the day-to-day impact

01:22impact on projects in the pipeline,

01:24especially those approaching a ward

01:26that are now stalled due to

01:28uncertainty over whether a PLA

01:30is required or not?

01:32Has any guidance been given to

01:34avoid delays or

01:36compliance issues in the interim?

01:38And finally, how will this impact

01:40the projects in this year's request

01:42if it's discernment that PLAs

01:44are required?

01:46Senator First, thank you for that

01:48question, and I do appreciate-

01:50Lots of questions.

01:52Yes. But I do appreciate the time

01:54that we did have to begin to discuss this.

01:56First and foremost, as I shared with you,

01:58anything that increases cost and schedule

02:00is of a concern to the department right

02:02now. And so we're working very, very

02:04hard to look at that. The administration

02:06supports the use of project labor

02:08agreements where those are practicable

02:10and cost-effective. But I again

02:12want to emphasize that I affirm

02:14and recognize your concerns about

02:16the costs and the drivers that could

02:18potentially cause those projects

02:20to increase. Right now we're not

02:22going to be pursuing any blanket

02:24deviations, but we are working with

02:26NAVFAC and USACE to go project

02:28by project and ensure that we are

02:30finding the most economical and

02:32speedy way to continue to move these

02:34projects along so that we can assess

02:36those on a project by project basis.

02:38We're also looking, working with

02:40OMB to determine our next steps and

02:42how we best address this issue for

02:44the long-term given the nature of

02:46where we stand today. And so the

02:48impact of that as we spoke earlier

02:50is all about mission and readiness

02:52and how do we drive that forward.

02:54And so part, much of the directions

02:56that we've given in working with

02:58these esteemed colleagues to my left is

03:00really to continue to drive those as

03:02quickly as we possibly can to meet

03:04the readiness concerns we have and

03:06to keep the costs down as best as we

03:07possibly can. Very good, thank you.

03:09The Deputy Secretary of Defense

03:11directed a review of the MILCON

03:13portfolio to identify opportunities

03:15for greater efficiency.

03:17As you know, initiatives like this

03:19often take time. While the review

03:21isn't complete, I'd like to hear from

03:23the panel, are there any early

03:25findings or promising areas that

03:27could be acted on quickly?

03:29Since you're already in the midst of

03:31building the fiscal year 2027 budget,

03:33is there any realistic expectation

03:35that these efficiencies will be

03:37reflected in that submission?

03:39Or are we likely looking at a

03:41longer timeline before we see

03:43tangible changes?

03:45Senator, let me lead with that just

03:47in a broad sense and then I'll

03:49defer to my colleagues. But as we're

03:51working on those, some of the early

03:53things that we are examining continue

03:55to be the use of other transactional

03:57authorities where it makes sense to

03:59move quickly. More importantly, we're

04:02taking a page from our partners at

04:04Defense Innovation Unit with an

04:05accelerated design build ways to

04:07bring contractors together more

04:08quickly, get through this changing

04:11requirements idea so that we can

04:13get it done quickly, move it ahead

04:15quickly. The idea of also building

04:18projects, bundling multiple projects

04:21together where that makes sense so

04:24that we can again move things

04:26together quickly. And then finally

04:28the idea behind replacing failed or

04:30failing facilities, so the repair by

04:32replace work that we've done

04:34collectively, to more efficiently

04:36replace those using O&M dollars

04:38again. All of those are things that

04:40we want to share collectively and

04:42make sure that we're doing those in

04:43a way that moves us ahead

04:44transparently to meet the mission

04:46requirements.

04:48Anyone else?

04:51Senator, as you said, the milk on

04:53cost is really astronomical and

04:56really getting out of hand. So what

04:58our objective is to think, act and

05:00operate differently in the Navy for

05:03possible alternative construction

05:05methods, module construction, using

05:07tension fabric structures instead of

05:09regular brick and mortar. That will

05:11buy some efficiencies both in cost

05:13and time. Also, honorable Mark's

05:16mentioned about block buy of specific

05:20types of buildings that we do

05:22repetitively, such as CDC's and

05:24barracks, could bring the cost down.

05:27Very good. Senator Ossoff.

John Boozman Raises Concerns Over Potential 'PLA' Leading To 'Stalled' Military Construction Efforts

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