Reed Questions Deputy Defense Secretary Nominee Feinberg on Budget Cuts and Employee Dismissals

Budget Management and Reallocation

• 🎯 Senator Reed questioned the nominee on approaching a deep 8% budget cut for the Department of Defense (DOD), emphasizing the need to go beyond low-hanging fruit.
• 💡 The nominee, Stephen Feinberg, stated that DOD lacks good systems and financial metrics, suggesting that improvements in these areas could reveal more reallocation opportunities than expected.
• 🚀 The focus is on reallocating funds from legacy systems that are no longer valuable to areas that are needed, rather than simple slashing.

Employee Dismissals and Analysis

• ⚠️ Senator Reed raised concerns about the announced dismissal of 5,400 preparation employees, noting it was apparently done without analysis.
• ❓ Feinberg was asked if he had ever fired thousands of people without analyzing the cost/benefits, to which he responded that while cuts are hard, many will come from retirements and early resignations.
• ✅ He acknowledged that turnover is necessary for an efficient organization, but stressed that every person is significant.

Rule of Law and Inspector General Independence

• ⚖️ Senator Reed highlighted the Secretary's actions in removing TJs (The Judge Advocate General's Corps) as potentially showing contempt for the law.
• 🤝 Feinberg committed to following the rule of law, respecting the independence of TJs and JAG officers, and instructing others to do the same.
• 🛡️ He also committed to respecting the independence of DOD and other agency Inspector Generals.