'The Job Is Going Away Before You Get There': Angus King Slams Trump Over Pentagon Staff Cuts

5 months ago

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. Angus King (I-ME) spoke about the Trump administration's staffing cuts to the Pentagon.

Transcript

00:00Senator King. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Power, you've been around audit, as you've said,

00:10for many years. Why is it so hard? Why is this case the paradigm case for not being able to get

00:17to an audit? What is it at the Pentagon that has created the obstacles to getting where we should

00:24get? A lot of big organizations have audits every year. What's the history here? Senator, I appreciate

00:32that question. I know a lot of people ask that very question. We've been doing this for, what is it,

00:3835 years since the CFO Act was passed. In my opinion, it hasn't been as important as it is

00:48in the private sector. In the private sector, you can't do business if you don't have clean audit

00:55opinions, if you're not answering all the compliance requirements of SEC. You can't sell your stock.

01:01You can't trade. Yes. But in DOD, really, the prime mission is to, you know, defeat our enemies,

01:10and it is not a whole lot to do with cranking out clean audit opinions. Keeping track of the money.

01:18Keeping track of the money is important. We haven't done the greatest job at that. I don't know that

01:25that's the worst thing we're failing at when it comes to getting clean financial statements.

01:32It's been a little bit of disarray. We don't have, we have too many systems. They don't talk to each

01:40other. It's very difficult to, or has been, to get people interested. I think we're at a nexus in

01:50time right now, though. The administration is behind doing the audit. The secretary is. Congress,

01:56obviously, you guys are. You've, you know, given us some deadlines. Well, you have a great opportunity,

02:01and I think great experience. And as you point out, everybody's aligned behind this mission. So

02:07I look forward to your work. You're going to prove to the world that the term comptroller of the

02:15Pentagon is not a contradiction in terms. That should be your task. Ms. Henninger, you are, as the

02:24chairman noted, extremely well qualified for this job. The problem is the job seems to be going away

02:29before you even get there. Seventy percent of the staff of the office that you're designated to leave

02:35has been cut. And yet, at the same time, the challenges of testing and evaluation of new

02:40technologies, particularly the challenges of cyber and ensuring cyber security of the whole supply

02:48chain, have multiplied in recent years. How in the world are you going to do your job when you've

02:55only got 30 percent of the people that were there a year ago?

03:00Thank you for the opportunity to expand on that, Senator King.

03:05I haven't been briefed on the details of Secretary Defense, his memorandum, and his decisions

03:12after the memorandum. I understand that there's a 60-day period where there will be a reconsideration

03:22of any resources that might be necessary. I don't know where that stands right now.

03:27The operational test and evaluation community spreads out responsibilities across a number

03:35of entities, including the service OTAs, who actually do the cyber testing.

03:40At DOT&E, the office that you are talking about in your question, specifically provides oversight

03:47an independent analysis to a certain number of programs that are on the oversight list.

03:53And when I get into the office, I will do an independent analysis.

03:58I think this office is very important, particularly at this moment in time. And Mr. Coleman, I would

04:04modify your philosopher's statement. Men and women empowered by the best technology win wars.

04:11Genghis Khan was able to conquer the world because of the invention of the stirrup, which enabled

04:15his warriors to be more fearsome. The English army at Agincourt defeated the French, a four-time

04:23size army because of the new technology of the longbow. So what you're doing is incredibly

04:30important. And I hope you'll fight for the office, for the people that you need in order

04:36to do the job. I think that's what's especially important here. Mr. Denton, legal advice and rule

04:44of law. You've done a lot of law work throughout your career. You know that one of the important

04:49jobs of a lawyer sometimes is to tell their client things they don't want to hear. Are

04:54you willing to do that to the Secretary of Defense or the President of the United States

04:57if you feel that the law is moving in a direct or the law requires a direction that isn't consistent

05:05with the policy direction that they want to pursue?

05:08Senator, that is always a lawyer's first obligation is to tell their client what the law is and

05:14what their options and obligations are. I look forward to providing that advice to Secretary

05:19Phelan, if confirmed, and to working closely with colleagues in the General Counsel of the

05:24Department of Defense Office and, if necessary, the White House Counsel's Office on any broader

05:29legal issues that we may need to collaborate on.

05:31Thank you very much. Mr. Coleman, I have some questions for you about manpower for the record.

05:36I appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

'The Job Is Going Away Before You Get There': Angus King Slams Trump Over Pentagon Staff Cuts

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