"Despite the crippling effects that sequestration is having on our military services, the Defense Department continues to throw millions of dollars out the door as it fails to adequately manage the costs and budget for service member relocations," Senator McCain said.
The average cost of relocating US military personnel has increased by almost 30 percent in the past 13 years, which has cost American taxpayers "potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in unnecessary spending," the senator said.
McCain also warned that the Pentagon has not attempted to analyze the cause of the agency’s rising costs or how they could lower it.
"It is critical that the Pentagon finally start budgeting for its expenses instead of coming to Congress hat-in-hand when funding inevitably runs dry," the senator said.
In recent months, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has been urging Congress to scrap the automatic sequestration process that is imposing major structural cuts on the country’s military, which affects the agency’s capabilities and ability to meet the US growing defense needs.
The sequestration, which is in place for 2016 budget, is supposed to limit the Pentagon’s base budget expenditure to less than $500 billion.
