Five senators have called on the Department of Defense through a letter to conduct an investigation into alleged overpricing by some U.S. defense contractors in light of a CBS News report.
The May 24 letter from Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Mike Braun, R-Ind.; Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., was addressed to Defense Secretary and 2023 Wash100 Award recipient Lloyd Austin.
CBS News conducted a six-month investigation and found that DOD’s fixed-price contracts would often generate 12 to 15 percent for private profits, according to the lawmakers.
“Pentagon analysts found over-charges that boosted total profits to nearly 40 percent and sometimes as high as 4,000 percent,” the letter reads.
The lawmakers also cited a Government Accountability Office report, which found lapses in the ability of DOD accounting systems to provide complete and reliable information and capture and log transactions to the correct accounts.
“We ask that you please provide us an update on the Department’s efforts to implement outstanding GAO recommendations related to financial management and fraud risk reduction, as well as your efforts to investigate the price gouging uncovered by CBS’s recent reporting,” the letter states.