Warren, Norcross Press Hegseth on Reckless Cuts to Weapons Testing Office After Watchdog Finds Cuts Increased Safety Risks for Troops

Government watchdog recently found Hegseth’s cuts to the military’s independent weapons testing office increased safety risks for troops, may violate the law “The decision to purge the office of DOT&E has created significant and unnecessary risk that jeopardizes readiness, service member safety, acquisition reform, and taxpayer dollars” Text of Letter (PDF) Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, and Representative Donald Norcross (D-N.J.), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee’s Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on his decision to cut the Pentagon’s independent weapons testing office budget by nearly 80% and staff by 74%, and urged him to reverse the cuts to ensure the military’s weapons systems are effective for combat use and safe for troops. The new letter follows a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report finding that Secretary Hegseth’s cuts to DOT&E have increased the risk of weapons being delivered to troops with “undocumented shortfalls related to effectiveness, suitability, survivability, or lethality.” “The decision to purge the office of DOT&E has created significant and unnecessary risk that jeopardizes readiness, service member safety, acquisition reform, and taxpayer dollars,” wrote the lawmakers . “We urge you to reverse the cuts made to this office to restore trust that DoD weapon systems are effective for combat use and safe for our warfighters at a justifiable cost to the American taxpayer.” The Department of Defense’s (DOD) Office of Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) was created in response to concerns that the military services were failing to adequately test weapons, and that Congress was not receiving the information necessary to conduct oversight over weapons programs. In May 2025, Secretary Hegseth eliminated any “non-statutory” functions of the office, reducing the office’s staff by 74 percent and slashing its budget by almost 80 percent. Hegseth also restricted DOT&E staff’s access to classified areas and reduced the amount of programs the office was able to conduct oversight on. The GAO’s investigation found that these staffing changes “reduced DOT&E’s ability to oversee operational and live fire testing and evaluation” and that DoD’s remaining test and evaluation processes do not “reflect leading practices.” “DoD must ensure that weapon systems are safe and are effective for the battlefield. We have serious concerns that as of May 2026, DoD has not provided any justification to support the DOT&E reorganization effort or provided the congressionally mandated analysis on the impacts of these cuts,” wrote the lawmakers . The members also raised concerns about the recent removal of all of DOT&E’s annual reports from the office’s official website. The removed reports, which were all unclassified, provide transparency about the effectiveness of major weapon systems and help identify malfunctions to ensure those weapons do not kill or harm troops. During her confirmation hearing , Dr. Amy Henninger, head of DOT&E, promised Senator Warren “maximum” transparency from her office. “Removing these reports appears to be an attempt to avoid disclosure of information the public needs to evaluate if major, high-dollar weapon systems are effective and safe,” said the lawmakers . The members urged Secretary Hegseth to reverse the cuts he made to funding and staffing levels for DOT&E and explain his plan to reduce the risk of faulty or dangerous weapons being delivered to troops in the meantime. They also pushed him to ensure the annual weapons testing reports are restored to the DOT&E website and provide an explanation for their initial removal by August 26, 2026. Senator Warren has led the fight to hold the Defense Department accountable for cuts to DOT&E: In August 2026, Senator Warren called out DOT&E’s decision to remove annual testing reports from its site, saying it could “cost service members their lives and waste billions of dollars” and questioned whether DOT&E Director Henninger lied to Congress when she promised “maximum” transparency. In August 2025, during her confirmation before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warren questioned Dr. Amy Henninger , nominee for Director of the DOT&E, about her commitment to the independence of the weapons testing office. Dr. Henninger committed to report weapon safety and effectiveness concerns “to the maximum extent possible and to “always come before (Congress) and tell the truth.” In October 2025, following the Pentagon’s refusal to explain the cuts to DOT&E and the decision to remove even more weapons programs from DOT&E’s oversight list, Senator Warren and Representative Norcross (D-N.J.) pressed Secretary Hegseth to justify the cuts and urged him to reverse its cuts and restore oversight to the nearly 100 programs cut from the DOT&E oversight list. In June 2025, Senator Warren wrote to Secretary Hegseth , criticizing his drastic cuts to the DOT&E and warning that they would “cost service members’ lives and waste taxpayer dollars.” ###