Report on Reports

The House Appropriations Committee, in a report accompanying its fiscal year 2012 defense spending bill, appears exasperated at DOD for not providing lawmakers a list of recently eliminated reporting requirements, which the Pentagon estimates will save $250 million in FY-12. The report, published on June 13, states:

The Committee has repeatedly requested a list of these reports which will be eliminated, as well as an explanation of the derivation of the savings estimate, but the Department has yet to supply the list or explain the derivation of the estimate.

Yet, on March 31, Defense Secretary Robert Gates directed the cancellation of 386 reports generated in accordance with internal Defense Department directives, publications, instructions as well as other processes such as strategic guidance and the Quadrennial Defense Review.

The main page of the DOD Issuances Web site features a prominent section called “2011 Internal Report Cancellation” that links to specific details on each of the eliminated reporting requirements.