Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has already set about implementing a plan to cut $1 billion from the Defense Department’s budget by consolidating and reorganizing top Pentagon offices.
But lawmakers want to hold his feet to the fire. The final version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed by Congress Dec. 19 enshrines DoD’s ambitious cost-cutting and streamlining plan into law.
President Barack Obama signed the annual legislation setting Pentagon policy and priorities on Dec. 26.
By June, Hagel must develop a plan for streamlining DoD management headquarters “by changing or reducing the size of staffs, eliminating tiers of management, cutting functions that provide little or no added value, and consolidating overlapping and duplicative programs and offices,” according to the bill language.
The plan must include the estimated cumulative savings to be achieved over 10 years beginning in fiscal 2015 through 2024.
The law directs DoD to look across the Pentagon for potential savings, including the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff and the headquarters of the combatant commands, among other areas.
Keep reading this article at: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/394/3534727/Lawmakers-enshrine-Pentagon-HQ-cost-cutting-into-law
