A bipartisan group of 13 New Jersey representatives and senators, encompassing nearly the state’s entire congressional delegation, sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll yesterday expressing “grave concern” over a proposed Army plan that could lead to sizable losses of funding and jobs for Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County.
According to the letter – led by Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), who represents the arsenal in the House – the Defense Department has proposed restructuring its acquisition offices and dismantling Picatinny’s Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition. Such a move, the letter states, would lead to 1,000 jobs and nearly $1 billion in funding being shifted away from Picatinny.
Those major losses would, of course, be potentially devastating for the local economy and communities in western Morris County. But the letter primarily focuses on other criticisms of the plan: that it would reduce the Army’s effectiveness and lead to more wasted money rather than less.
“There is no other DoD installation with the same uniquely experienced and qualified staff in arms and ammunition,” the letter states. “Moving these missions to other installations would inevitably lead to reduced lethality and poorer weapons being delivered to our soldiers.”
And by transferring a thousand jobs to other installations around the country, the letter argues, the Defense Department risks losing “thousands of years of collective work experience” from knowledgeable and accomplished Picatinny employees who choose not to move.
“While some individuals may choose to transfer if given the opportunity, it is unlikely that a significant number would move,” it states. “Implementing the Army’s proposal would effectively gut the Army’s ammunition and weapons acquisition workforce without a pipeline to replace those employees.”
The letter is far from the first time that New Jersey Democrats have seen fit to criticize Hegseth’s Defense Department. Sherrill in particular has been a dogged Hegseth skeptic; the congresswoman, a former Navy helicopter pilot, has used her seat on the House Armed Services Committee to slam the secretary over both his past personal indiscretions and the managerial decisions he’s made since taking office.
It’s more unusual, though, to see two of the state’s Republican congressmen – Rep Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), whose district abuts the arsenal, and Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) – publicly criticize a Trump administration plan. The state’s other GOP representative, Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester), was the lone New Jersey member of Congress not to sign onto the letter.
The letter asks five questions of Hegseth and Driscoll about the projected costs and impacts of their proposal, and asks for responses by August 1.