During an interview aired on Thursday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) discussed the proposed defense budget from the Trump administration and said that we do need to refill stockpiles and fund needed programs, but “Until we have real visibility into where the money is spent and where the waste, fraud, and abuse is in the Pentagon, we can’t be credible stewards of the American taxpayers’ dollars.” And “the one agency that I think is notable, where DOGE did not do a lot of activity, is the Pentagon. And that happens to be the largest discretionary program in our federal government. So, I think it’s ripe for scrutiny.”
Co-host Kailey Leinz asked, “The president wants a $1.5 trillion defense budget. He is now suggesting some $350 billion should go through the reconciliation process, again, 3.0, to secure more funding for the Pentagon. Do you see a real chance of that happening?”
Young answered, “The current law now requires the Pentagon to produce an auditable financial statement in the next couple of years. In modern history, they’ve been unable to do so, yet, we continue to shovel money into the Pentagon. Until we have real visibility into where the money is spent and where the waste, fraud, and abuse is in the Pentagon, we can’t be credible stewards of the American taxpayers’ dollars. So, I think that’s the first step. But, in the interim, I think the administration will need to ask some — and answer some tough questions from members of Congress about where exactly the money will go. I will say, the one agency that I think is notable, where DOGE did not do a lot of activity, is the Pentagon. And that happens to be the largest discretionary program in our federal government. So, I think it’s ripe for scrutiny.”
Leinz followed up, “So, reconciliation 3.0 with more Pentagon money, you would throw a little cold water on that idea?”
Young responded, “Well, let’s see how it’s structured. It’s a time of war, we, of course, need to refill our stockpiles to keep the American people safe and secure. I’m absolutely open to that, spending money on anti-air weapons and other hardware that the American people understand that we need. But let’s not waste money. I would also say, if we’re going to spend more money, let’s think through how we can do so sustainably. We have a massive national debt. There hasn’t been enough consideration of the implications of our spending in Washington in modern history, and, so, let’s have that difficult conversation in conjunction with any debates about reconciliation.”
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