{"id":70938,"date":"2025-09-23T16:43:48","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T16:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/09\/23\/army-secretary-in-holy-war-with-congress-over-budget-flexibility\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:27:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:27:55","slug":"army-secretary-in-holy-war-with-congress-over-budget-flexibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/land\/2025\/09\/23\/army-secretary-in-holy-war-with-congress-over-budget-flexibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Army Secretary in \u2018holy war\u2019 with Congress over budget flexibility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll says he is locked in a \u201choly war\u201d on Capitol Hill as he works to convince lawmakers to grant the service more flexible funding authority <\/a>for electronic warfare, unmanned aerial systems and counter-drone efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resistance Driscoll has encountered in his first eight months in the job is part of a longstanding tension between the Pentagon and Congress over the trust and oversight of taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unstable leadership cycles and inconsistent funding have pushed contractors into cost-plus arrangements, Driscoll explained, while congressional skepticism has only grown in the wake of failed modernization programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have 1,400 [to] 1,500 line items of make and model of things we need to buy,\u201d he told a group of reporters last week. \u201cSpecifically we have asked to consolidate down in electronic warfare, drone and counter-drone. \u2026 This is 1% of our budget and we are in like a holy war over whether we\u2019re going to have the authority for 1% of our budget to have the flexibility to buy different makes and models.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t