Bill of the Month — July 2023: Streamline Pentagon Budgeting Act

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s (TPA) Bill of the Month for July 2023 is the Streamline Pentagon Budgeting Act, introduced by Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.). This legislation would repeal the statutory requirement for military services to submit an annual list of unfunded priorities to Congress.

Background:

Unfunded priority lists (UPLs), formerly known as unfunded requirement lists, are reports that every U.S. military service, COCOMs, and the MDA annually submit to Congress pursuant to 10 U.S.C. §222a and 10 U.S.C. §222b. These reports contain military programs, activities and mission requirements not included in the President’s annual budget request.

UPLs have existed since the mid-1990’s, but the requirement for their submission was enacted as part of the fiscal year (FY) 17 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (Section 1064, P.L. 114-328). By 2021, these pentagon wish-lists cost taxpayers $18 billion. Costs ballooned to $49 billion a few short years later in FY23. This amount is similar to the entire Agency for International Development budget, and more than NASA’s $32 billion budget in FY23.

This year, the Pentagon’s UPLs totaled $16.4 billion. That’s more than the President’s budget requests for entire departments. It dwarfs the Department of the Treasury ($16.3 billion), Department of Labor ($15.1 billion), Social Security Administration ($15.5 billion), Department of Commerce ($12.3 billion), Environmental Protection Agency ($12 billion), and Small Business Administration ($987 million).

Streamline Pentagon Budgeting Act:

Reps. Jayapal, McClintock, Davidson, Garamendi and Moulton took action during the ongoing FY24 NDAA process by submitting the Streamline Pentagon Budgeting Act as an amendment to defense policy package. It was rejected by the House Rules Committee and failed to receive a vote on the House floor. Now, their standalone bill has been referred to the House Armed Services Committee for consideration.

In FY23, the Department of Defense (DoD) retains $2.01 trillion in budgetary resources, compromising 15.1 percent of the federal budget. The U.S. spends more on defense than the next ten countries combined. With a current national debt of more than $32.6 trillion, Congress must act to rein in wasteful spending.

The Streamline Pentagon Budgeting Act would remove the requirement for military services, COCOMs and the MDA to submit unfunded wish lists to Congress, saving billions of taxpayer dollars annually. It is for these reasons, among others, that TPA is proud to make the Streamline Pentagon Budgeting Act, introduced by Reps. Jayapal, McClintock, Davidson, Garamendi and Moulton, its Bill of the Month for July 2023.

Michael Mohr-Ramirez is Manager of Federal Policy at Taxpayers Protection Alliance.