McCain on Hagel, WSARA

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) today criticized the Defense Department's “culture of inefficiency” and questioned whether the White House's nominee to be defense secretary, former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), has the chops to grapple with problems in the Pentagon's process for buying major weapons.

The Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act (WSARA) of 2009 has led to improvements, but there is more work to be done, according to McCain. "Whether Senator Hagel would serve as the right leader at the Department of Defense to foster needed cultural change in the Department’s procurement practices is unclear," McCain said in a floor statement. "What we do know," he added, "is that the right person must embrace the following principles."

DOD must set realistic requirements early and manage changes to those requirements aggressively; improve the department's ability to price risk; improve its workforce for cost estimating, technical- and systems-engineering and developmental testing; use appropriate contract types; better incentivize productivity and innovation; and take other steps, McCain said. His full statement is online.