Warren Presses DoD Inspector General Nominee On Commitment To Transparency and Independence Following Trump's Purge Of Inspectors General

Warren Presses DoD Inspector General Nominee On Commitment To Transparency and Independence Following Trump's Purge Of Inspectors General

Video of Exchange (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. - At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Mr. Platte B. Moring III, nominee to be Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Defense (DoD), on his commitment to transparency and independence. Mr. Morning would be the Pentagon's "top cop" for holding defense contractors and DoD officials accountable.

The senator has repeatedly raised her concerns about defense contractors overcharging the DoD. In 2024, the DoD IG's office found that Boeing charged the Air Force unreasonable prices for materials, including raising the price of a soap dispenser nearly 8,000 percent of its commercial price. This lack of transparency from the IG in reporting the actual dollar amounts Boeing charged the Air Force for each unit helps contractors hide price gouging and prevents Congress from conducting oversight.

Senator Warren asked Mr. Moring to commit to maximum transparency by releasing the actual numbers in investigations like the one above. Mr. Moring committed to doing so and said he'd be "as transparent as the law allows."

Earlier this week, Senator Warren, along with Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who are also members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, as well as Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), introduced a new bipartisan bill, the Transparency in Contract Pricing Act of 2025, to take on price gouging by defense contractors.

Senator Warren also asked Mr. Moring about Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Ranking Member Jack Reed's (D-R.I.) request for an IG investigation into allegations that Secretary Hegseth improperly disclosed classified information on Signal. Under law, the IG must immediately report to the head of their agency instances of "particularly serious or flagrant problems, abuses or deficiencies" interfering with their investigations, referred to as a "Seven Day Letter." The agency head is then required to report it to Congress within seven days. Mr. Moring confirmed he would use the Seven Day Letter to inform Congress if he believes the SignalGate investigation or any other work being conducted by the IG's office is being improperly interfered with.

Secretary Hegseth's office has reportedly implemented a new policy requiring DoD officials to sign nondisclosure agreements (NDA) before starting some projects. Federal agencies are prohibited from implementing NDAs without including an anti-gag provision to protect whistleblowers' rights when reporting abuses to Congress and to the Inspector General. Mr. Moring confirmed to Senator Warren that if he learns that the NDAs implemented violate the law, he would make any findings public and report them to Congress as soon as possible.

Transcript: Hearings to examine the nominations of Platte Moring, of South Carolina, to be Inspector General; Kirsten Davies, of Tennessee, to be Chief Information Officer; James Mazol, of Virginia, to be a Deputy Under Secretary; and Derrick Anderson, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary, all of the Department of Defense.
Senate Armed Services Committee
September 18, 2025

Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, Mr. Moring, if you're confirmed as Inspector General, you would be the Pentagon's top cop on the beat for waste, fraud and abuse of power. Government should work for the people. That's something I think all of us should agree on. But President Trump has purged IGs, including your predecessor. So it is extra important for us to understand whether or not you're going to be an independent watchdog, and one piece of that is holding big defense contractors accountable.

Now, in 2024, the DoD inspector general reported that Boeing charged the Air Force unreasonable prices under the C-17 contract. An example: a soap dispenser cost 80 times more in the charge to DoD than was commercially available. But we don't know the actual dollar amount. Was that $80 or was that $8,000 because the Air Force-we don't know how much they charge because the IG redacted the actual dollar figures. This kind of lack of transparency from the IG helps contractors hide how much they are price gouging the military, and it makes it harder for all of us to do our job on accountability.

So Mr. Moring, if you are confirmed, I'm just following up here on Senator Scott's question, but with specificity, if you are confirmed, will you commit to being transparent with the American people about how much these companies are overcharging DoD?

Mr. Platte B. Moring: Senator Warren, it's a mystery to me how an $80 soap dispenser you can buy at Target, Boeing sells to the department at $1,500.

Senator Warren: But I want to know that you are going to report the actual numbers and not black them out. Because you give us more ability to do oversight here. Can I get your commitment on that?

Mr. Moring: You can and I will be as transparent as the law allows.

Senator Warren: Okay, well, the law lets you put those numbers in there. There's no secrets in those numbers. So good. I'm going to hold you to that.

Based on its investigation, the IG recommended requiring contractors to fess up to DOD when they're hiking prices. And so this week, I introduced a bipartisan bill, the transparency and government pricing act, with Senators Ernst, Slotkin, and Grassley to do just that, and I hope we're going to be able to get this bill signed into law.

The IG has to be independent from contractors and from DOD leadership. At the bipartisan request of Chairman Wicker and Ranking Member Reed, the IG is investigating whether Secretary Hegseth improperly disclosed classified information on Signal. Under law, the IG must report to the head of the agency cases of "particularly serious or flagrant problems, abuses or deficiencies," and then the agency head must report it to Congress within seven days. You may be familiar, this is called the "Seven Day Letter," and it's been used in both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Mr. Moring, if confirmed, will you commit to issuing a "seven-day letter" if you believe the SignalGate investigation or any other work being conducted by your office is being improperly interfered with?

Mr. Moring: The short answer to your question, Senator, is yes. The seven-day letter I've read in the Inspector General Act is one of the tools in the toolboxes available, the authorities Congress gave to the inspector general to provide informed…

Senator Warren: I appreciate that. You had me at yes. The DoD inspector general must act independently, and that's what we're counting on here. So let me get in one more quick question.

Earlier this year, Secretary Hegseth's office reportedly implemented a new policy requiring DoD officials to sign nondisclosure agreements before they can work on projects. These kinds of agreements can have a chilling effect, which is why federal agencies are prohibited from implementing NDAs without including an anti-gag provision to protect whistleblowers. This language informs the employee that they still have the right and obligation to report abuses to Congress and to your office.

Mr. Moring, if you are confirmed and your office learns that these NDAs violate the law, will you make those findings public as soon as possible and report to us about them?

Mr. Moring: The short answer, Senator, is yes. I can elaborate if you'd like.

Senator Warren: I think the chairman will take yes for an answer here, and we can close up.

Chairman Roger Wicker: Absolutely and of course, witnesses can supplement their answers on the record.

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