February 03, 2021

Manchin Questions Deputy Secretary of Defense Nominee Hicks During Nomination Hearing

Washington, DC – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), questioned Deputy Secretary of Defense nominee Dr. Kathleen Hicks during her nomination hearing on business reform and ensuring accountability within the Department of Defense (DoD).

“The “spend it or lose it” culture that’s in government across the board, how can we change it? How can we spend more money than all the other challengers we have all around the world and not get efficiency from it…I think there is a lot of waste and redundancy that we can really work on…We must also hold the prime contractors that do business with us accountable for the securities of their networks down into their subcontractors…that’s where all the information is being stolen from that has to be secured and it has not been. I look forward to working with you, especially on the business reforms that need to be made,” said Senator Manchin in part.

Senator Manchin has long advocated for increasing efficiency and minimizing waste within the DOD. Last year, he fought to retain the Chief Management Officer (CMO) of the DOD in the National Defense Authorization Act to push for better business practices to ensure efficient spending of taxpayer dollars to support the Warfighter, but the Defense Committees immediately terminated that position against the recommendation of the Government Accountability Office.

A video of Senator Manchin’s questioning of  Deputy Secretary of Defense nominee Dr. Kathleen Hicks can be found here.