Latest news with #GAO
Washington Post
a day ago
- Business
- Washington Post
White House budget office rebukes watchdog over ‘invasive' probes
The top attorney for the White House Office of Management and Budget on Friday sharply rebuked a congressional watchdog, escalating an ongoing battle over the administration's expansion of unilateral spending powers. The Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog that's part of the legislative branch, found this month that the administration broke federal law in canceling spending for a $5 billion electric vehicle program without congressional approval. Gene L. Dodaro, the comptroller general of GAO, has also said during congressional testimony that his office had opened nearly 40 separate investigations into the administration, apparently focused on spending cuts.
Associated Press
a day ago
- Business
- Associated Press
SolV Independent Insurance Associates Announces Commitments to Help Employer Plans Amid Trump's New Drug Pricing Executive Order
Granite Bay, California, United States, May 30, 2025 -- SolV CEO Scott Kelley urges proactive planning as policy targets global price alignment SolV Independent Insurance Associates today announced its plans and commitments for guiding employers through prescription drug cost management in light of the new 'most-favored-nation' executive order signed May 12 by President Donald J. Trump. As the order drives U.S. reimbursement rates toward international benchmarks, SolV is doubling down on its proven approach to help clients achieve significant savings and clarity amid evolving policy. 'SolV has long educated employers about the disparity between U.S. drug prices and those abroad,' said Scott Kelley, CEO of SolV Independent Insurance Associates. 'With U.S. prescriptions costing two to four times more than in other countries, employers need an advocate focused on reducing their largest expenses—not another middleman.' SolV founder and CEO Scott Kelley noted that the new federal policy mirrors the firm's long-standing philosophy. 'A key linchpin to the Trump executive order is requiring pharmaceutical companies to honor international pricing for U.S. drug purchases,' Kelley said. 'U.S. prescription drugs cost two to four times more than drugs purchased internationally, according to a March 2021 GAO report. SolV has been helping clients tap into international pricing on drugs for years. That's why it's important to have the right benefits consultant—someone focused on curbing one of your largest expenses, not adding another middleman to your drug spend.' While the executive order signals a shift toward greater cost containment, Kelley warns that the path forward will raise complex questions for employers: 'We welcome any attempt to rein in rising healthcare costs,' he said. 'But until policies are fully understood and implemented, employers are left grappling with how these changes affect their benefit strategies. That's where we come in—translating complex policy changes into actionable solutions.' SolV is doubling down on four core service areas to guide clients through this transition: 'Any move that shines a light on America's broken prescription pricing system is a step forward,' he said. 'Until real savings materialize, we'll stay focused on what matters most: helping employers navigate these changes effectively.' SolV will continue to monitor updates to the executive order and provide timely, personalized guidance as the healthcare landscape evolves. About the company: SolV Independent Insurance Associates is a full-service employee benefits consulting firm founded by CEO Scott H. Kelley in 2016. With offices and representatives in California, Washington, Idaho, North Carolina, Arizona, and New York, SolV supports employers across the U.S. and internationally with expert guidance on employee benefits strategy, compliance, and cost management. Scott Kelley is a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS), a designation held by fewer than 2% of employee benefits consultants in the country. For more information, visit Contact Info: Name: Tess Dumlao Email: Send Email Organization: Phoenix PR & Marketing Website: Release ID: 89161087 If you come across any problems, discrepancies, or concerns related to the content contained within this press release that necessitate action or if a press release requires takedown, we strongly encourage you to reach out without delay by contacting [email protected] (it is important to note that this email is the authorized channel for such matters, sending multiple emails to multiple addresses does not necessarily help expedite your request). Our committed team will be readily accessible round-the-clock to address your concerns within 8 hours and take appropriate actions to rectify identified issues or support with press release removals. Ensuring accurate and reliable information remains our unwavering commitment.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Space Command Headquarters in Colorado 'Not Sustainable' Without New Construction, GAO Finds
A new congressional watchdog report looking into whether U.S. Space Command's headquarters would be best served by remaining in Colorado found that new construction would be needed to fix significant problems, a major revelation as the Trump administration weighs moving the command to Alabama. The Government Accountability Office, Congress' watchdog agency, published a report Thursday examining how former President Joe Biden's administration chose Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as Space Command's headquarters location despite the Air Force identifying Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, as its preferred location, selected in the waning days of President Donald Trump's first term in 2021. "The command is fully operational, but U.S. Space Command officials told GAO that they faced ongoing personnel, facilities and communications challenges," the report detailed. "As a result of identified challenges, officials stated the command's posture is not sustainable long term and new military construction would be needed to support the headquarters' operations in Colorado Springs, Colorado." Read Next: Trump Pardons Former Army Officer Convicted of Disobeying COVID-19 Safety Rules The political fight over Space Command's future in either Alabama or Colorado has been a partisan tug-of-war for more than four years between the Trump and Biden's administrations, as well as the two states' delegations in Washington. Ultimately, with Trump back in office, many Republican lawmakers have been teasing for months that the president or his recently confirmed secretary of the Air Force would reverse Biden's decision. Thursday's GAO report is just the latest round in the battle over the command's location. Colorado's delegation, as well as other lawmakers, requested a GAO and Department of Defense inspector general's report following Trump's 2021 announcement, and Alabama lawmakers requested two similar probes into Biden's move to reverse that choice in 2023. Defense budgeting experts such as Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said the revelation that new construction would be required for Space Command to stay in Colorado is a blow to that state's lawmakers. "The main argument for keeping it in Colorado was always that new construction would not be needed right away," Harrison told "But if that situation has changed, it certainly makes Alabama more favorable." The uncertainty in the final basing location has led to personnel issues, the GAO report said, revealing that Space Command was not fully staffed as of fall 2024 -- filling only 1,024 of 1,379 authorized positions, including 576 of 809 government civilian positions. Space Command officials interviewed by the GAO said this was "due to uncertainty regarding the command's final location and the complexities of hiring government civilians over the more straightforward process of assigning military personnel." In addition to the staffing woes, Space Command officials said existing facilities had shortcomings, noting they required "military construction of a permanent, purpose-built facility that is better suited to meet its unique power, information technology, square footage and security needs." The officials also told the GAO that "without new construction, command, control, and mission operations will continue to operate inefficiently with greater vulnerabilities to mission, facilities, and personnel." While being in Colorado and near other bases and commands -- U.S. Northern Command is nearby, for example -- offers benefits such as enhanced communication networks, there are also issues with sharing information technology networks with Peterson Space Force Base, the officials added. Alissa Czyz, director of the GAO's Defense Capabilities and Management team, told that the new report probed how Biden's decision was made, as well as what issues currently face Space Command. "There was some rigorous analysis performed, kind of in response to some shortcomings identified both by GAO and IG [the DoD inspector general] in our original reports, citing the need for additional analyses and also incorporating military leaders' views of the risks with whatever location," Czyz said. The GAO probe was one of two investigations into the Biden administration's decision requested by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., alongside a Pentagon inspector general investigation that was released last month. Rogers used his power over the Armed Services Committee to insert language into the annual defense policy bill in 2023 that temporarily halted funding for any Space Command headquarters construction pending the results of the investigations. Thursday's GAO report noted that, in July 2023, Space Command "proposed a construction project for a new multistory, permanent headquarters facility to replace its current temporary and leased facilities," which would start in 2029 and be complete by 2034 for a price tag of $1.5 billion. But Rogers' halt on construction funding froze those developments. "According to U.S. Space Command officials, this project was put on hold and no further planning for the construction of a headquarters facility in Colorado Springs had been initiated as of March 2025," the GAO report noted. Rogers released a statement on the new GAO report Thursday saying the findings provide further reason for the command to move to his state. "The GAO report yet again affirms that Huntsville is the best option for Space Command s headquarters," Roger said in the release. "When making his decision to locate the combatant command headquarters in Huntsville, President Trump prioritized transparency, national security, and a commitment to saving taxpayer dollars." Notably, neither former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall nor former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Pentagon investigators, citing privileged conversations with former President Biden. The DoD IG report, released in April, showed key details were still missing as to how Kendall identified Redstone Arsenal in Alabama as the preferred location, but Biden made the ultimate announcement and call. Czyz told that the GAO spoke with Kendall; according to her, he told investigators that "he was informed of the decision shortly before it happened." They also spoke with other senior defense and Air Force officials, but were not able to get information from the Biden White House, she added. The multiple investigations since 2021 have done little to sway opinion on Capitol Hill, where the Alabama and Colorado delegations have dug in and claimed vindication after each successive report. Colorado lawmakers appeared unready to give up Thursday, despite the GAO findings. "The release of today's GAO report is clear: Colorado Springs is the best home for U.S. Space Command's headquarters. Continued efforts to move the headquarters only hurts [sic] our national security," Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, posted on social media. "Space Command is fully operational, and the Department of Defense needs to move quickly to construct a permanent HQ at Peterson Space Force Base to put the issue to bed, once and for all." Related: Key Details Still Missing on Why Biden Made Final Call on Space Command's HQ, New Report Details
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pentagon ends new radar effort meant for Guam missile defense
Early this year, the Pentagon issued a memo halting development of a new radar meant to protect Guam from high-end air and missile threats, according to a May 22 Government Accountability Office report on the effort to protect the strategic island in the Pacific. 'On January 7, 2025, the Deputy Secretary of Defense [Kathleen Hicks] directed the [Missile Defense Agency] to cease development of one of the elements, the AN/TPY-6 radar, but to retain the currently fielded panel as an experimental asset with potential to develop for operational use within the [Guam Defense System] in the future,' the report states. While Hicks' decision came at the end of her tenure under the Biden administration, GAO notes the changes are not binding on the new administration. The Pentagon's plan to develop an elaborate air-and-missile defense architecture is beginning to take shape and will be pieced together over the coming years in order to protect Guam from increasingly complex threats emerging in China and North Korea. MDA had shipped its first AN/TPY-6 panel on a boat headed to the island last summer, planning to use it to track a threat launched from a C-17 plane in a first flight test of current capability coming together for the defense of Guam at the end of 2024. The new radar uses technology from MDA's Long-Range Discrimination Radar positioned in Alaska at Clear Space Force Base, which will have its own test next year ahead of declaring operational capability. The Guam Defense System will also rely on a variety of systems still in development, mostly within the Army. The Navy will provide technology and capability from its Aegis weapons system. The land service plans to bring to Guam currently fielded capabilities, like the Patriot system and its Integrated Battle Command System, or IBCS, that connects any sensor and shooter together on the battlefield, as well as Mid-Range Capability missile launchers, which were first fielded at the end of 2023. The Army will also incorporate Patriot's radar replacement, the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, or LTAMDS, which was just approved for production, and its Indirect Fire Protection Capability launchers, which are reaching the end of the prototyping phase. With the termination of AN/TPY-6, for now, Hicks directed the MDA prioritize remaining Aegis Guam systems development funds 'toward delivering minimum viable Aegis C2 [command and control] and datalink capabilities to enable Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) engagements off remote track from AN/TPY-2 and LTAMDS over the JTMC [Joint Track Management Capability] bridge,' according to GAO's report. The Pentagon's memo required upgrading the JTMC bridge to address all missile threats from China and achieve a Joint Tactical Integrated Fire Control capability — the future joint track architecture for Guam — 'for coordinated battle management, combat identification and electronic protection,' the report states. Those upgrades should be completed no later than 2029. The memo also directed MDA to accelerate key command-and-control integration work, including getting the Army-operated Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, system to work within IBCS. Guam is home to a permanent THAAD battery called Task Force Talon, which serves as the critical component for defending the island against ballistic missile threats. Additionally, the Army and MDA 'shall integrate AN/TPY-2 measurement data into IBCS no later than 2030 and achieve full integration by 2033,' the report details. The MDA has long used AN/TPY-2 radars to track ballistic missiles, but Raytheon just delivered a new version to MDA with Gallium Nitride, or GaN, which gives it the ability to track more complex threats at greater ranges like hypersonic weapons. The first new radar with GaN will go to the Army's eight THAAD battery. The radars can be used in a forward-based mode, providing cuing data to systems like the Navy's Aegis ballistic missile defense system or the Army's Patriot. It serves as the primary radar for THAAD. The Army's new LTAMDS radar, also developed by Raytheon, has GaN technology as well.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Guam missile defense system under pressure: $8 billion U.S. plan struggles with delays, leadership gaps, and China threat
Guam missile defense system is facing serious problems despite an $8 billion investment by the U.S. military. A new GAO report reveals delays, unclear leadership, and poor infrastructure planning that threaten the Pentagon's ability to defend Guam from potential Chinese missile attacks. With missing timelines, unapproved facilities, and troops relying on bottled water, the situation paints a worrying picture. The system, critical to counter China's growing missile threat, lacks a clear strategy for long-term operation. These gaps raise urgent questions about the island's readiness in case of conflict. Here's what's really going wrong behind the scenes. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Why is the Guam missile Defense system facing delays despite billions in funding? How is the army struggling to maintain current Defenses on Guam? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads What are the logistics and housing gaps delaying deployment? Who is supposed to run the Guam missile Defense system? Is Guam ready for a potential missile conflict with China? FAQs: Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The $8 billion US missile defense plan for Guam—aimed at protecting the island from potential Chinese missile attacks—is facing serious challenges, according to a recent report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). Despite being one of the Pentagon's top defense priorities, the report reveals troubling gaps in planning, infrastructure, and long-term Pentagon's Guam Defense System (GDS) is supposed to offer a 360-degree missile shield around the island. It's a response to China's expanding missile force, especially weapons like the DF-26 "Guam Express"—a missile that can strike Guam from over 2,500 miles away. However, the GAO report, released last week, reveals the Department of Defense (DoD) still lacks a clear strategy for who will operate and sustain the system once no finalized timeline or leadership plan between the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the military services. The system is supposed to be managed across 16 sites on Guam, with installation running from 2027 to 2032, but many critical operational questions remain US Army has had trouble even with its current responsibilities on the island. For more than 10 years, Guam has hosted a THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) battery, but basic support and maintenance are lacking. Army vehicles are being repaired under tarps, and there is still no permanent facility for the THAAD system. When a typhoon hit Guam in 2023, Army units had to rely on the Marine Corps for hangar inspectors found that soldiers stationed there were drinking bottled water due to a lack of clean water access. These issues have created what the report described as 'morale challenges' for Army personnel and military operations, the Pentagon hasn't figured out how many service members will be needed, where they'll live, or how schools, medical services, and grocery stores will support them. This makes it nearly impossible to plan for training, housing, or deployment some branches have tried to estimate their needs, the lack of an overarching plan has left critical infrastructure and personnel decisions in limbo. The Army is currently waiting for clarity before it can move forward with essential logistics.A major issue is the unclear chain of command. The GAO report says the Pentagon hasn't defined which military branch or agency will lead the Guam Defense System. Some responsibilities are shared between services, while others might fall to the Missile Defense confusion could lead to duplication, delays, or gaps in operations when the system goes live. Lt. Gen. Robert Rasch, who oversees the GDS project, told the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee earlier this month that the project will cost around $8 People's Liberation Army Rocket Force has thousands of missiles, many aimed at deterring or disabling US bases in the Indo-Pacific region. Guam—home to key US airfields and submarines—would likely be one of the first targets in a conflict. Experts warn that the US could face an unprecedented missile threat if war were to break out with the Guam Defense System is meant to address this risk, the lack of a clear operating plan, insufficient infrastructure, and poor conditions for current troops suggest that Guam is far from US military's efforts to build a strong missile defense for Guam are urgent, especially as threats from China grow. But without answers on who's in charge, how many troops are needed, and where they'll live and work, the system is far from battle-ready. If the Pentagon doesn't address these gaps soon, Guam may remain a vulnerable target—despite the billions already being system lacks leadership, planning, and support despite $8 billion hosts key US bases and is within range of China's DF-26 missiles.
