There’s Waste in the Department of Defense. Trust Me, I Was There

H appy that DOGE, Elon Musk, and Secretary Pete Hegseth plan to fire up to 8 percent of the Defense Department’s civilian employees? Worry that cuts might hurt national defense? Even the Trump administration seems unsure: the Defense Department announces budget cuts and staff reductions, then the secretary instructs employees to not answer that email from Elon Musk, and Trump supports a House budget plan that includes $100 billion more for defense. And then Hegseth fires military lawyers? Something feels off — something other than Elon Musk’s waving that chain saw.

A longtime NRO reader, I can help dispel some confusion. I was in acquisition, or government contracts, finally becoming an attorney/adviser at the DOD. I stress that I “was,” not that I “worked” as such, because really I did little else but watch the NFL Network at home. Well, I used four months to pass the bar exam. Thanks, taxpayers.

So, yes, Elon, about your “genius” emails: stick to your . . . er . . . chain saw.

Indifference or incompetence in federal contracting costs us staggering sums. I once saw a quarter of a million dollars go up in smoke because someone signed a contract and then took the afternoon off before a two-week vacation. Fifteen thousand dollars in unnecessary storage fees? Hey, we helped local business. Handshake deal at a party? It’s for a good cause! The money spent is often considered too little to even be posted on the official website.

Mistakes also happen. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is almost 250,000 words longer than the Bible. Examples of defense spending idiocies go on and on: hammers, toilet seats, reheatable coffee cups, soap dispensers. Extensive regulations have been created to correct poor practices and highlight abuses. Attorneys play a key role in guiding the proper spending of our money. Competition saves money and lives. Yet when I was at the DOD, no one cared.

Whenever I explained that ignoring the FAR wasted resources, my superiors dismissed my concerns. They were “overwhelmed,” you see. No time. The private desires of employees controlled acquisition factors, which could lead to price increases or improper awards.

So, Elon, when it comes to the DOD — start with the acquisition staff. They are red-ink force multipliers.

Last June, I emailed my superiors and told them that working from home fatally impaired our ability to represent our client. By then, my relationship with my boss, the chief attorney, had deteriorated. In our last conversation on Teams (Microsoft’s clunky answer to Zoom), he explained that he “didn’t have the bandwidth” to supervise my advising the contracting staff.

I was fired three weeks later.

I earned a master’s degree in acquisition (4.0 GPA), then passed the Defense Workforce Improvement Act (DWIA) exam in 2023, after having passed the bar. I became an attorney again, after 20 years, to assist Army contracting. I had the qualifications and expertise to do my job. But working from home killed our efficiency.

As attorneys, we cannot put our own interests above those of our client, even if that client is the U.S. government. I told the chief attorney that I should be attending meetings, which the contracting staff must surely be having. (But why would I expect that?) I could help with their required planning and negotiations, I said. He said they didn’t like planning or negotiating. They didn’t want my input — keep quiet and stay home. He recommended me for another job; more money.

I felt this was unethical and said so.

We had four civilian attorneys, no internal staff meetings, and infrequent meetings with brigade leadership. My contact with my boss diminished from around 15 minutes per week on Teams to long periods of complete silence. Two senior attorneys lived two hours away from our office. Between October 2023 and July 2024, I saw them three times, when they arrived for scheduled luncheons. The last time was April 30, when the chief counsel came for inspection. Several times, I apprised the chief counsel that I was “doing zero work” for the Army and had not applied for this competitive appointment to be given a sinecure. He told me no one had much work at all. Why was I hired, then? They had vacancies and needed to spend the money.

A former contracts director told me I should be grateful. I got paid every two weeks to do nothing. She, who had young children, reviewed contracts from home. While government employees’ working so little should annoy private citizens, government contracts is how major cash buys goods and services.

Technically I resigned “for personal reasons.” Attorneys withdraw from representations when they can no longer act ethically. I had reached that point. When I left, I had just received an offer from another Army unit. Slow in hiring, they proved nimble in withdrawing their offer. Wanting to work and advocating compliance with contracting law results in blacklisting. Now I’m using my training to represent private businesses against the DOD. My successes will cost taxpayers even more money.

A Department of Defense filled with irresponsible and complacent employees cannot be trusted to spend its budget wisely. Far too many employees want to stay home and not earn their paychecks. In contracting, their sentiments cost the nation far more than their salaries do. Congress put an extensive legal framework in place to ensure intelligent expenditure. Apathy and sloth frustrate its efforts and weaken us as a nation.

I moved three times in three years looking for a place where actual contract work was being done. Nevertheless, I did nothing while those in charge complained that they were too [insert convenient excuse] while working from home. What did those people do all day? I’ve no idea, but it wasn’t their jobs, for I couldn’t do mine.

We need an overhaul of civilian staffing at the federal government. Everyone who works for the Department of Defense should work in person, and anyone who doesn’t want to should be discharged. Then and only then should a budget increase be contemplated. And even, then, all funds appropriated should be carefully monitored . . . from a proper office. Otherwise, our fiscal strength will waste further away.