Defense budget reform panel at work after ‘organizational problems’ – By Joe Gould (Defense News) / Sept 19, 2022
WASHINGTON ― A select panel exploring a revamp of Pentagon budgeting is making “significant progress” with meetings and research efforts after some “organizational problems,” according to its chairman.
The congressionally mandated Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution Reform, has been quietly convening for more than five months, interviewing witnesses and hiring staff, according to its chairman, former Pentagon comptroller Bob Hale. The panel ― made up of former officials from Congress, the Pentagon and industry ― has also hired two federally funded research and development centers to assist its work.
“We have made significant progress. We’ve had some organizational problems, but, since we first met in March, we’ll have our 10th meeting tomorrow,” Hale told Defense News in an interview last week. “We have finally started to hire staff; that was tied up in some of the organizational issues we confronted.”
While the panel is chartered by Congress, it’s funded by the Defense Department, and that sparked internal debates that held up its plans to hire staff, according to Hale.
