WH disputes that Pentagon suppressed waste report

The White House on Tuesday disputed a blockbuster report showing how the Pentagon suppressed one of its own studies revealing $125 billion in wasteful spending.

{mosads}“Let me just quibble a little bit with some of the language in the story and in your question about the report being buried,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One. 

Earnest cited a January 2015 Defense News writeup of the report and noted that it is publicly available on the Pentagon website. 

A Monday night Washington Post piece detailed how top Defense Department officials actively sought to bury the report, a damaging story for the Obama administration. 

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work commissioned the Defense Business Board to conduct a study of Pentagon business operations, which was released last year. 

That document revealed that the Defense Department was spending $134 billion each year on business operations, 50 percent more than initially estimated. The report recommended $125 billion in cuts over a five-year span.

The cuts would reportedly be achieved by cutting back-office jobs, hiring less expensive workers and renegotiating contracts, among other options.  

Top Pentagon officials, however, moved to discredit the report by undermining the results and suppressing its public release, according to the Post. 

They argued it could be an invitation to Congress to cut its budget, which has already been hewn by sequestration. 

Earnest pinned the blame for bloated Pentagon spending on Congress, not the administration. 

“I would point out there are many self-described defense hawks and fiscal conservatives in the United States Congress who are blocking Pentagon-recommended reforms that would strengthen our military and save taxpayers billions of dollars,” he said. 

“That’s the real scandal,” the spokesman added. “That’s worthy of front-page treatment on The Washington Post.” 

He cited a number of cost-saving moves backed by President Obama that Congress has not advanced, including restarting the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission progress, phasing out the A-10 Air Force combat jet and slowing down production of the littoral combat ship.