WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, led his colleagues in examining urgent reforms suggested to the Department of Defense’s Planning, Programming, Budget, and Execution (PPBE) process in a new expert report.

The report, which was commissioned by the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2021, offers numerous prescriptions for reform to make the Department more agile and effective in harnessing new defense technologies. In his opening remarks, Senator Wicker endorsed the report’s findings and called for their careful consideration.

“For over six decades, the Department of Defense has operated a byzantine budgeting system with virtually no modifications or improvements,” Senator Wicker said. “This system was built for a past era – an age in which software did not exist and the United States government, not the commercial sector, was the largest research and development spender. The system was predicated on the Pentagon’s ability to predict the future with near-certainty two or three years out... it is long past time for an update to the Department’s budgeting system.”

Read Senator Wicker’s opening statement as delivered below or watch it here.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for convening this hearing and thank you sir, for sponsoring the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Executing Commission two years ago.

While the acronym “PPBE” may sound strange to most, the subject is timely. This system governs the process that the Pentagon uses to choose what to buy.

For over six decades, the Department of Defense has operated a byzantine budgeting system with virtually no modifications or improvements. This system was built for a past era – an age in which software did not exist and the United States government, not the commercial sector, was the largest research and development spender. The system was predicated on the Pentagon’s ability to predict the future with near-certainty two or three years out. That task is impossible because today’s threat environment evolves too quickly.

There is undoubtedly some merit to parts of our existing budget system. But the crucial point is that for too many years, it has failed to deliver key weaponry at relevant speed and scale. It has also failed to connect strategic choices to budgets. And it has stifled trust between Congress and the Pentagon.

In other words, it is long past time for an update to the Department’s budgeting system. I applaud the commission for its thorough, timely, and realistic work in three main areas.

First, the commission recommends that DOD improve its ability to ensure that budget is based on strategy. Today, it seems that the National Defense Strategy is little more than a suggestion to those in the trenches building the defense budget.

This is why we still see such a significant disconnect between the strategy’s focus on China and the relative lack of investment in key capabilities and infrastructure that we need to face China in the Pacific. Our current budgeting system does not foster, let alone require, cooperation between our military services, even though that is how they will have to fight. A move toward capability-based portfolios and mission-based budgeting would alleviate part of this problem. Why have 27 projects based on disparate requirements when we could simply create programs based on missions – like air defense – and budget for it that way?

Fixing these two problems will require senior leadership attention and commitment, combined with hard work by our budget office.

Secondly, the commission recommends significantly changing parts of the budgeting process. It should be a process that fosters innovative technologies and activities. This might mean adjusting reprogramming restrictions to allow the military to adapt in weeks, not months, including under continuing resolutions. It may also require thoughtful consolidation of related activities across the budget by department.

Last, but certainly not least, is the subpar relationship between Congress and the DOD. Today, the transmission of budget data is episodic, manually input, and often ineffective. It is 2024, and we should have the ability to share information in real-time, digitally, between the executive branch and Congress. This is not difficult from a technological standpoint – it just requires a culture change.

To achieve all this, we will need a larger, more modern budget workforce. It is clear to me that the Comptroller workforce cannot execute this antiquated budget process and reform at the same time, nor should we expect them to. This will require significant upfront investment and new hiring authorities, but it will save us tens of billions of dollars in the decades to come.

So, I look forward to the different format today.

Mr. Chairman, we have got our work cut out for us to listen to the experts here to reform the Pentagon’s budgeting system, and this commission has given us a great starting place.

I look forward to the witness’s testimony and hearing their ideas for our consideration.

Thank you, sir.