At Hearing, Army Secretary Nominee Agrees with Warren’s Right to Repair Cost-Cutting Recommendations
Nominee to lead the Army agrees to work with her on tackling costly repair restrictions for the military, a cost cutting recommendation Warren shared with Elon Musk
Warren: “[W]hen right-to-repair restrictions are in place, it’s bigger profits for giant defense contractors, but also higher prices for DoD, and longer wait times for service members who need to get equipment repaired so they’re ready to go.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, questioned Mr. Dan Driscoll, nominee for Secretary of the Army, about his views on enhancing the Army’s right to repair its own equipment and his commitments to address the revolving door between the Pentagon and contractors.
Earlier this month, Senator Warren wrote to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) recommending $2 trillion in proposals to save taxpayers money, including tackling repair restrictions that the Government Accountability Office found “could save billions of dollars.” At the hearing, Mr. Driscoll agreed with this recommendation.
The Department of Defense pays contractors hundreds of billions of dollars annually to purchase weapons systems and other equipment. However, the equipment is often subject to contractor-imposed restrictions on how servicemembers can diagnose, repair, and maintain their own equipment, leaving servicemembers unable to conduct necessary fixes and beholden to contractors no matter how harsh the environment. Mr. Driscoll “unequivocally” agreed with Senator Warren that right-to-repair restrictions impact national security and military readiness, and said these delays mean equipment deployment is “not scalable in an actual conflict.”
A root cause of defense contractor profiteering is the revolving door between senior Pentagon officials and large defense contractors. Senator Warren’s investigation found nearly 700 instances of former high-ranking officials working at the top 20 defense contractors. Mr. Driscoll agreed to work with Senator Warren to address the revolving door issues.
Senator Warren secured a provision, with bipartisan support, in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prohibit the Department of Defense from contracting with companies that do not provide fair and reasonable access to repair materials. In December 2024, Senator Warren introduced the Servicemember Right-to-Repair Act, which included that provision, and would also require cost-saving proposals to cut sustainment costs without reducing performance requirements, mandate a report on cost-saving strategies to enhance transparency, and require DoD to assess the cost-effectiveness of access to intellectual property throughout a program’s life cycle.
Transcript: Hearing to Consider the Nomination of Mr. Daniel P. Driscoll to be Secretary of the Army
Senate Armed Services Committee
January 30, 2025
Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Congratulations on your nomination, Mr. Driscoll. So what I’d like to do is continue the conversation we started in my office. The Army buys a lot of stuff, from tanks to helicopters. They buy a lot of stuff from big defense contractors. Those giant companies often sneak restrictions into the contracts. They hog up the software rights or the technical data, all to prevent service members from being able to repair their own equipment. So today I would like to talk through an example so we can see the difference in banks with the Army is not hamstrung by right-to-repair restrictions.
Last year, the Army needed a new cover for a safety clip, but the contractor told the Army they couldn’t have it for months and these safety clips would cost $20 a pop. Now, thankfully, the Army had managed to keep right-to-repair restrictions out of this contract and was able to 3D-print the part in less than an hour for a total cost of 16 cents.
Now, Mr. Driscoll, does being able to get the parts we need in hours - maybe minutes - instead of months, and for nickels instead of dollars help U.S. readiness and national security?
Mr. Dan Driscoll, nominee for Secretary of the Army: Unequivocally, Senator.
Senator Warren: Good. You know, when right-to-repair restrictions are in place, it’s bigger profits for giant defense contractors, but also higher prices for DoD, and longer wait times for service members who need to get equipment repaired so they’re ready to go.
Chairman Wicker has an acquisition reform agenda which calls for a complete review of data rights across the Department of Defense. I think that is exactly right because it would help put the Army fully in command of the equipment that it has paid so much for.
So Mr. Driscoll, let me ask you, if confirmed, will you work with this committee to identify more opportunities where the Army can save money and time by making their own parts and fixing their own equipment?
Mr. Driscoll: If confirmed, unequivocally, Senator.
Senator Warren: Would you like to expand on that at all?
Mr. Driscoll: This type of innovation happening in the private sector at scale in a lot of ways seems to have not trickled into the Army as much. If we think about engagement with a peer like China, being able to repair our parts in areas around the world will be crucial to that. And, if we are having six-month delays in CONUS and paying 100x the rate, that is not scalable in an actual conflict, and so I’m totally supportive, Senator.
Chair Wicker: That was a very good answer, Mr. Driscoll.
Senator Warren: It was an excellent answer. Thank you Mr. Chairman. You know, right-to-repair restrictions have truly gotten out of control. And they threaten our national security. In some cases, the Army cannot even write its own training manual without a signoff off from a contractor. My Servicemember Right to Repair Act would help fix this problem.
But a root cause of this defense contractor profiteering is the revolving door between senior Pentagon officials and big defense contractors. Last year, I released a report that found 700 instances of top 20 DoD contractors hiring former high-ranking officials.
Do you think this is a problem, Mr. Driscoll?
Mr. Driscoll: I do, Senator.
Senator Warren: When government officials cash in on their public service by lobbying, advising, or serving as board members and executives for the companies that they used to regulate, it undermines public officials’ integrity and it casts doubt on the fairness of government contracting and it costs DoD a lot of money. We owe it to our taxpayers and we owe it to our men and women in uniform to fix this broken system. I look forward to working with you on this, Mr. Driscoll.
Mr. Driscoll: Thank you, Senator.
Senator Warren: Thank you. I yield back.
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