Reps. Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Mike Rogers, R-Ala., wrote a letter sent Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, to the leaders of each military service requesting they identify obsolete programs and weapons for potential cuts as Congress begins crafting its annual defense policy bill. (Photos by Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — The leaders of the House Armed Services Committee are calling on the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force to identify obsolete programs and weapons for potential cuts as Congress begins crafting its annual defense policy bill.
Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the Republican chairman of the committee, and Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the panel, said they want the services to present a list by March 1 of infrastructure, weapon systems, programs or processes “that are no longer a priority” and “could be divested, right-sized or made more efficient.”
“Identifying these will allow the committee to redirect resources to higher priority items that support the National Defense Strategy and achieve real deterrence,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter sent Friday to the leaders of each service.
The request comes as President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s government efficiency team seek to purge federal government personnel and cut agency budgets. It also follows efforts started by congressional Republicans last week to add at least $100 billion in defense spending in the next decade.
The House and Senate Armed Services committees are tasked each year with crafting the National Defense Authorization Act, a massive must-pass bill that sets expenditures and policies for the Defense Department. The Pentagon employs 3 million troops and civilians and has a budget of more than $850 billion.
Rogers and Smith said service members and the American public deserved a defense budget that “deters our enemies at the greatest possible value.”
“We are committed to eliminating waste, reforming our acquisition processes and ensuring each dollar within the defense budget is spent wisely,” they wrote. “We have a unique opportunity at this time to make quantifiable progress toward these goals.”
The letter was sent a day after the House Budget Committee signed off on a spending blueprint that, if approved by Congress, will ask the House Armed Services Committee to write a bill detailing up to $100 billion in additional defense spending in the next 10 years.
The Senate is working on its own version of the budget resolution, which mandates $150 billion in extra defense spending. The two chambers must agree on a compromise budget resolution before Congress can pursue legislation that would beef up spending on defense, security at the U.S.-Mexico border and energy independence while providing for trillions in tax cuts.
Lawmakers have at times balked at the Pentagon’s efforts to retire outdated weapon systems, vehicles and ships and added expenses the services did not request. In December, Congress approved two Virginia-class attack submarines despite the Navy only wanting one and authorized three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers instead of the two that the Navy had requested.
