Congressmen Maxwell Frost and Cory Mills Partner on New Bill to Crackdown on Untracked Defense Spending
WASHINGTON D.C — Today, Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-FL-10) and Congressman Cory Mills (R-FL-07) announced the introduction of bipartisan legislation called the Defense Spending Oversight Act (H.R. 6187), a bill that would play a critical step in securing accountability and avoiding waste, fraud, and abuse in defense spending.
Specifically, the Frost, Mills legislation would require Inspectors General to create reports evaluating the net financial benefit of budget oversight investigations to crack down on the billions of unaccounted for taxpayer dollars being given to the DoD and military contractors with insufficient accountability.
In 2022, the Federal Times reported that the Pentagon officials recovered $13.2 million in just six months from a hotline that helped uncover wrongdoing from private contractors. A figure which underscores the need for Frost and Mills’ bill to further support the critical work of Inspectors General who aid in auditing government agencies and recuperating these funds.
“Waste, fraud, and abuse in defense spending is too common,” said Rep. Frost. “Congressman Mills and I both know that adequate funding to ensure our national defense is entirely different from writing a blank check at the cost of Florida's taxpayers. Our bipartisan bill is an important part of cracking down on wasteful spending and recouping our tax dollars to hold bad actors accountable in the long run.”
“The American people have a right to know their hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being used effectively,” said Rep. Mills. “I’m pleased to join my colleague, Rep. Frost, in this bipartisan effort to ensure there is proper transparency and spending oversight of the DOD. We must strive towards eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse from our federal agencies.”
Earlier this year, Congressman Frost was successful in including similar language as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024. The introduction of this bill with Rep. Mills further underscores the bipartisan commitment Congress must have to cracking down on wasteful spending without accountability.
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