Lawmakers press Trump’s nominee on future of DoD’s weapons testing office
“With drastically reduced resources, DOT&E may be unable to provide adequate oversight for critical military programs,” Sen. Jack Reed said.
Senate lawmakers are pressing the White House’s pick to lead the Pentagon’s independent weapons testing office about the fallout from the office’s major downsizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed in May.
Amy Henninger, who is currently serving as a senior advisor in the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Center, has been nominated to lead the Defense Department’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) office. If confirmed, she would oversee an office that Hegseth has cut by more than half.
In May, Hegseth reduced DOT&E’s workforce from 94 employees — including 82 civilians and 12 service members — to 30 civilians, 15 military personnel and one senior leader. He also eliminated all contractor support.
“For decades, DOT&E [the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation] has played a vital, legally mandated role in safeguarding the integrity of major defense programs and ensuring military systems are affected before they are put into war fighters’ hands. Unfortunately, in May, the secretary of Defense announced his plan to significantly reduce the DOT&E office, including slashing its workforce, budget and resources. The secretary gave no compelling reason for that action and in my view it is extremely damaging to military accountability and oversight,” Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the Senate Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat, said during a hearing on Thursday.
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“With drastically reduced resources, DOT&E may be unable to provide adequate oversight for critical military programs, risking operational awareness and taxpayer dollars,” he added.
In a May 27 memo, Hegseth said that a “comprehensive internal review identified redundant, non-essential, non-statutory functions within DOT&E that do not support operational agility or resource efficiency, affecting our ability to rapidly and effectively deploy the best systems to the warfighter.” He also estimated these changes would save the Defense Department over $300 million annually.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has since repeatedly raised concerns about the office’s ability to adequately test weapons and called on Hegseth to reverse the decision.
In a June 17 letter to Hegseth, Warren said the cuts raised doubts about whether oversight decisions would be guided by objective standards and warned that the cuts could undermine cyber testing. Congress created DOT&E in 1983 to advise the Defense Secretary and evaluate the performance of weapons and equipment under realistic combat conditions.
During the hearing, Warren said the office is now operating with 26% of its staff and 20% of its previous budget.
“The reason for that bill was because the military had been caught trying to cover up major problems — like that of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, which would ‘burn its crew to death if it were hit by a single Soviet tank missile.’ If you are confirmed to lead the testing office, it will be your job to make sure that similar problems are brought to light and fixed… I have serious concerns about whether you will have the resources you need to accomplish your safety mission,” Warren said.
Henninger said the office’s reports will “always reflect the limitations or assumptions that we encountered,” and pledged to “always come before you and tell the truth.”
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“All of those things taken together — that is an affirmative yes,” Henninger said.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) pushed back, saying the cuts “properly refocused the office on its original statutory purpose rather than the excessive bureaucratic obstacle it had evolved into.”
“The committee understands the need to modernize the test and evaluation process. Our NDAA proposes an agile pathway to provide the director with more oversight across systems’ lifecycle while at the same time preserving the independence of the test and evaluation office,” Wicker said.
Henninger also said she would conduct a comprehensive review of the office’s portfolio, workload and workforce capacity.
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