Jayapal, Davidson, Garamendi, Moulton Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Cut Wasteful Pentagon Spending

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Warren Davidson (OH-08), John Garamendi (CA-08), and Seth Moulton (MA-06) are introducing the bipartisan Streamline Pentagon Budgeting Act to end the requirement that military services send Congress funding wish lists outside the appropriations process. This irresponsible requirement forces military commands to ask for additional spending - even if the President's Budget Request meets their needs - for projects the President, Secretary of Defense, Pentagon, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have deemed non-essential for the United States' national security strategy.

"The Pentagon has never passed an audit and is requesting an unprecedented $1.5 trillion for their FY27 budget," said Jayapal. "If the Pentagon required the items on their wish list, they would have been reflected in this already enormous budget request. Our Streamline Pentagon Budgeting Act is a bipartisan solution to combat this wasteful and inefficient spending."

"Our military should have the resources needed to defend the country, but every dollar should support a clear national security need," said Rep. Davidson. "Requiring commands to submit unfunded priorities lists encourages unnecessary spending outside the regular budget process. This bipartisan bill ends that mandate while fully preserving the ability of military leaders to bring real funding gaps directly to Congress."

"Bloated defense spending has been a serious problem for far too long. Requiring unfunded priorities only encourages the Pentagon to seek additional funding outside the normal budget process, often at the expense of readiness and sound fiscal discipline," said Rep. Garamendi. "The Streamline Pentagon Budgeting Act is an important step toward reducing inefficient spending while prioritizing investments that strengthen our military readiness and national security. This bipartisan, commonsense bill will eliminate unnecessary bloat while reinforcing Congress's constitutional responsibility to provide meaningful oversight."

"Congress has a responsibility to ask tough questions instead of rubber-stamping increased defense spending," said Moulton. "The Streamline Pentagon Budgeting Act is about bringing accountability and rigorous oversight to defense spending so that we can build a military that's prepared for tomorrow's threats while only prioritizing investments that help our military and don't divert taxpayer dollars away from addressing other pressing issues affecting Americans here at home."

While the military has long provided unfunded priorities lists, they became a required submission in the FY17 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). For FY26, the list totaled $53.7 billion. These lists often include expensive and wasteful requests that have been deemed by defense leaders as low priority.

This legislation is endorsed by R Street Institute and Public Citizen.

Issues: Foreign Affairs & National Security, Government Reform & Ethics