An internal memo reveals how the Pentagon could save $125 billion on back-office employees and inefficiency through early retirements and reducing services from contractors.
The Pentagon tried to hide the internal report that exposed the bureaucratic waste, according to the Washington Post.
Robert O. Work, the Pentagon's second-highest official, requested the study that discovered the waste. It was carried out by a federal advisory committee for the Department of Defense.
The report outlined a plan to make the Pentagon run more efficiently, which would save $125 billion over five years. No layoffs or cutbacks to military personnel would have been necessary.
But with that much wasteful spending on display, top officials worried the president and Congress would take the opportunity to cut funding -- which the Pentagon has fought for years.
The report was scrubbed from the Pentagon's website. Its data hidden behind security restrictions.
Deputy Defense Secretary Work told the Washington Post the report underestimated how hard it would be to make changes that would save $125 billion, calling that estimate "unrealistic." The Pentagon is already moving forward with a less ambitious plan to save $30 billion by 2020.
