The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud services contract is facing new challenges as the Pentagon investigates potential conflicts of interest by former employees involved in the drafting of the request for proposal (RFP).
DOD Auditors Swing and Miss
Auditors at the Department of Defense (DOD) have provided a blueprint for underachieving students everywhere: they may have failed the test, but they never expected to pass! Speaking to reporters on November 15, 2018, Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan stated “We failed the audit, but we never expected to pass it.” While the DOD […]
Congressional Eye Turns to DOD’s JEDI Contract
One wonders if the “Force” is working against the Department of Defense (DOD) with its Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure project (JEDI). The contract bid request that by some estimates could reach $10 billion to build an enterprise-level commercial cloud solution, including Infrastructure as a Service and Platform as a Service, to support the all defense agencies […]
Lost in Space: New Branch Makes Little Sense
Citizens Against Government Waste has previously covered the idea of creating a sixth military branch. The argument in favor of a Space Force is almost entirely without merit. It will increase bureaucracy, add to overhead costs, and complicate existing command structures, all without providing additional capabilities. For these very reasons, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was […]
A Space Force Will Only Lead to More Waste
On June 18, 2018, President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to begin the process of creating a Space Force. While the idea was praised by some members of Congress, detractors point to concerns about the increased bureaucracy and costs associated with a sixth military branch. The President’s proposal follows Congress’ rejection of a similar plan […]
The “Little Crappy Ship’s” Decade of Failure
When the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) launched on April 26, 2008, it was intended to modernize the Navy and become “the backbone of the future fleet.” After more than a decade, this dream has not come to fruition. In fact, the LCS seems unlikely to be deployed for a second consecutive year. The status of […]
F-35: More Money, More Problems
The acquisition misadventures of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program have been well-documented. In development for nearly 17 years and seven years behind schedule, the program is approximately $173 billion over budget and has encountered an abundance of persistent issues. An April 2015 Government Accountability Office report noted that the lifetime operation and maintenance […]
House Appropriations Boosts Spending for Costly F-35 Program… Again
On Wednesday, June 13, 2018, the House Committee on Appropriations passed the fiscal year (FY) 2019 Defense Appropriations bill by a vote of 48-4. The bill provides $674.6 billion in total spending for the Department of Defense (DOD), including $606.5 billion in base discretionary spending as well as $68.1 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operations […]
Major legislation aims to slash Pentagon bureaucracy and waste
On April 17, 2018, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), chairman of the powerful House Committee on Armed Services, revealed a far-reaching proposal targeting the Defense Department’s so-called “Fourth Estate” agencies, which are maintained by around 200,000 civilian personnel and 600,000 contractors. The Fourth Estate is a nickname for defense agencies that provide administrative, purchasing, and oversight […]
Federal IT Procurement Gone Awry
The concept that federal information technology (IT) procurement should be technology and vendor neutral is among the best practices for federal government agencies. However, when a large federal agency issues an exceptionally large cloud contract to a predetermined vendor for a specific technology solution without competitive bidding, such a contract is neither technology nor vendor […]