As the White House seeks to reestablish a ceasefire with Iran, Congress is preparing to advance the annual defense policy bill.

Lawmakers are poised to set the Pentagon budget at more than $1 trillion in fiscal year 2027 – with almost a quarter of that going toward weapons acquisition.

Bill negotiations are a critical opportunity for lawmakers to scrutinize the scale and effectiveness of military spending. In a hearing last week, I offered lawmakers several recommendations on how to do exactly that.

Spending Is The Point, Not Security

“The Manhattan Project took only three years to produce the first atomic bomb, now it takes us four times that long to roll out a new military plane or ship,” said Rep. Burchett (R-Tenn.), Chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE). “What is going on here,” he asked witnesses, kicking off the hearing.

Read the full article on Forbes.