Pentagon to Congress: Inflation…. what inflation?
AEI's John Ferrari and Mackenzie Eaglen write that in failing to adjust its budget to the realities of inflation, the Pentagon is careening towards budgetary trouble.
By JOHN FERRARI and MACKENZIE EAGLEN
on May 20, 2022 at 11:17 AM
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 16: U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-ID) references a chart on rising costs during a press conference on inflation, at the Russell Senate Office Building on February 16, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Republican Senators blamed the near record high inflation on the Biden Administration and the Democratic fiscal agenda. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
With everything from food to gas prices rising, Congress asked the Pentagon to weigh in and say how inflation will impact its $773 billion budget request. But the Hill didn’t get the answers it expected. Below, AEI scholars John Ferrari and Mackenzie Eaglen argue that was a missed opportunity from department leadership.
Congress is worried about inflation — for their constituents, the nation’s finances, and the military. But the Hill’s plea for more information from the Department of Defense (DoD) to help ameliorate the negative impacts on the armed forces brought little new to light. The Pentagon’s response had echoes of Jerry Maguire’s classic “help me… help you” scene: Congress is desperate to help the department, and so one would expect the Pentagon to take advantage.
That just doesn’t seem to be happening. In fact, defense leadership’s 12-page memorandum in response to Congress essentially says five things:
https://breakingdefense.com/2022/05/pentagon-to-congress-inflation-what-inflation/
