Sen. Coburn targets 'non-defense' defense spending in budget report

The Department of Defense could save $67.8 billion over the next decade by eliminating “non-defense” defense spending, according to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).
 
In the 73-page “Department of Everything” report released Thursday, Coburn highlighted numerous programs DOD could cut from its annual $600 billion budget without reducing vital defense spending, including programs that are ineffective, duplicated by another government agency or are only tangentially related to defense.

The programs listed in the report include spending on microbreweries, Pentagon-branded beef jerky, a smartphone app that alerts users to take a coffee break, a bomb detector that's less effective than “a coin flip” and a workshop asking “Did Jesus die for Klingons too?”

In addition, the report takes aim at DOD’s overhead expenses, which total $212 billion — more than Israel’s gross domestic product.

“I prepared this report because the American people expect the Pentagon’s $600 billion annual budget to go toward our nation’s defense,” Coburn said. “That isn’t happening. Billions of defense dollars are being spent on programs and missions that have little or nothing to do with national security, or are already being performed by other government agencies.”

According to Coburn, those savings could go toward paying down a third of the cost of a fleet of new strategic bombers or Ohio-class nuclear submarines.

---