(KIWA Staff Photo)Washington, D.C. (RI) — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says American taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for overpriced military equipment — including $14,000 toilet seats — and he’s introducing a bipartisan bill that would require the Pentagon to pass independent audits or face fines.
Grassley, a Republican, is offering the bill with Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont. Grassley says national security is the federal government’s top responsibility, and every dollar spent should be clearly accounted for.
Grassley says the Pentagon consumes more than half of the nation’s discretionary budget and controls more than $3 trillion in assets. He says the Department of Defense has been “plagued by wasteful spending for decades.”
Grassley and Sanders first introduced the bill in 2021, and reintroduced it in 2023. Grassley says he’s optimistic Pentagon leaders will comply.
Grassley says his support for the bill isn’t tied to any current military conflicts. In a statement, he says the bipartisan legislation would hold the Pentagon accountable by requiring it to meet the same audit standards as other agencies or face a financial penalty. He adds that any dollar lost by the Department of Defense wastes taxpayers’ money and weakens national security.
