The heads of the House Armed Services oversight subcommittee wrote an open letter released Friday to President Donald Trump to appoint officials to vacant positions in the Pentagon.
"We are writing to urge that you nominate a full slate of capable, independent individuals to fill the existing vacancies at Department of Defense's Offices of the Inspector General (DOD IG) and at the Office of Special Counsel (OSC)," wrote Reps. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., and Seth Moulton, D-Mass., the subcommittee chair and ranking member.
The legislators add that the positions serve "a crucial function, conducting oversight and helping to ensure that the American people know about and have a means to address instances of waste, fraud and abuse in their government." They also argue that the positions act as a benefit to taxpayers, and that federal inspector generals saved $36.6 billion in the 2015 fiscal year.
"We understand that you have recently withdrawn several nominees for these positions," Hartzler and Moulton wrote.
"We strongly encourage you to expeditiously put forth new nominees and move them through the confirmation process so that these offices can fully exercise their statutory duty to be effective and independent watchdogs."
Since appointing Defense Secretary James Mattis, Trump has yet to fill the remaining 52 empty DOD positions. Of his 11 nominees, two have removed themselves from consideration. Earlier this month, the White House announced a series of nominations for defense positions, including Boeing senior vice president Patrick Shanahan for deputy defense secretary, according to Bloomberg News.
Trump previously touted Boeing as a solution to "the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35," in a December tweet, despite earlier that month criticizing the company over the cost of a new Air Force One.
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