Reed, Wicker Commend Report Examining DOD’s Financial Management Strategies

Today, after the Congressional Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Reform released its final report, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Roger Wicker (R-MS), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement:

“Threats to our nation’s security are expanding and accelerating. The Department of Defense must therefore evolve to keep pace. For too long, the Department’s cumbersome and outdated financial and resource management practices have acted as a drag on America’s defense acquisition system.

“We are encouraged that after two years of diligent study and analysis, the PPBE Reform Commission has produced a report outlining more than two dozen recommendations. These findings should help the Department develop new technologies in a streamlined, agile manner. We appreciate the Commissioners’ expert, bipartisan work, and we look forward to reviewing their findings.”

Background:

The Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) established the Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Reform. The NDAA tasked the Commission with assessing the effectiveness of the Defense Department’s PPBE process; examining more efficient alternatives to the process; and developing policy recommendations that will enable the Defense Department to rapidly field operational capabilities and outpace America’s near-peer competitors.

The 14-person Commission was led by the Honorable Robert Hale, who served previously as Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Defense, and the Honorable Ellen Lord, who served previously as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment.

Click here to read the report.