Measure targets greater defense department efficiency

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) recently introduced a bill designed to enhance various Department of Defense (DOD) civilian workforce initiatives.

Calvert said the Rebalance for an Effective Defense Uniform and Civilian Employees (REDUCE) Act would require the DOD to systematically execute civilian workforce reductions without compromising the nation’s long-term national defense goals.

Officials said a Defense Business Board report determined modest cuts within the back end of the Defense Department could save $125 billion over five years, noting that significant savings could be achieved through attrition and early retirements.

“Over the course of many years, the Defense Department bureaucracy has been allowed to grow into a costly, unwieldy threat to taxpayers and our national security,” Calvert said. “Tough decisions must be made within the civilian workforce at the Defense Department in order to ensure our limited resources are focused on our servicemembers. We have made significant strides rebuilding our military in the past two years, but we will struggle to maintain our military superiority without improving our efficiency.”

Under the legislation, attainments include reducing the DOD civilian workforce by 15 percent by FY 2025; and trimming the DOD civilian Senior Executive Service career appointee workforce to 1,000 by 2025 while remaining at or below 1,000 employees for Fiscal Years 2025 through 2029. It will also seek to provide the Secretary of Defense the authority to assign greater weight to job performance versus tenure in a Reduction in Force than the Secretary currently possesses.