The GOP’s Defense Spending Farce

Republicans are on record as saying they are not against putting defense spending cuts on the negotiating table. That’s a big change for the GOP, which traditionally has viewed defense spending as a sacred cow.

But what sort of cuts do the GOP worthies have in mind? That’s where things fall apart rather quickly:

…House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and others in his caucus have pointed to programs including efforts to diversify the military, identify alternative fuels and other environmental initiatives.

“We’re going to cut money that’s being spent on wokeism, we’re going to cut legacy programs, we’re going to cut a lot of waste,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee…

Okay. Canceling “wokeism” won’t come close to balancing the government’s books. But about those other broad areas, Rogers mentions – “legacy programs” and “waste.” What does that mean?

Rogers says we should wait for the subcommittee hearings. Fine. But until then, The New York Times shows us the problem those subcommittees will have cutting even the most wasteful of legacy programs. In this case, it’s the Freedom-class littoral combat ships the Navy ordered after 9/11. The ships delivered don’t work, and the Navy doesn’t want them:

…built in Wisconsin by Fincantieri Marinette Marine in partnership with Lockheed Martin, suffered a series of humiliating breakdowns, including repeated engine failures and technical shortcomings in an anti-submarine system intended to counter China’s growing naval capacity.

“We refused to put an additional dollar against that system that wouldn’t match the Chinese undersea threat,” Adm. Michael M. Gilday, the chief of naval operations, told Senate lawmakers.

The Navy estimated that the move would save $4.3 billion over the next five years, money that Admiral Gilday said he would rather spend on missiles and other firepower needed to prepare for potential wars. Having ships capable of fulfilling the military mission, he argued, was much more important than the Navy’s total ship count.

But like so many other boondoggles, this one survives. Why? It comes down to lawmakers with naval facilities in their districts, local businesses that depend on the jobs and income from fixing these ships and the congressional campaign accounts dependent upon defense contractor checks banding together to save the ships.

Remember: these are ships the Navy doesn’t want, because they don’t work, and are soaking up resources that could be used elsewhere. Or as the Government Accountability Office noted:

The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) fleet has not demonstrated the operational capabilities it needs to perform its mission. Operational testing has found several significant challenges, including the ship’s ability to defend itself if attacked and failure rates of mission-essential equipment.

Forget stamping out “wokeism.” Too many self-described fiscal conservatives in Congress are determined to keep throwing money at a ship that can’t even defend itself.

That’s reckless to the point of insanity. The real test for the GOP on the budget, and defense spending in particular, is if it can stop its own members from spending money on such dangerous boondoggles. Don’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

READ NEXT: Troubled Congressman Accused of Sexual Misconduct