FINAL REPORT | Defend & Reform: The Future of America’s Defense Spending

With a looming “fiscal cliff” that includes across-the-board spending cuts hovering above Washington, the future of American defense spending is uncertain. What is nearly certain is that the Department of Defense will see additional budget cuts. The pertinent questions are therefore: how much cutting is too much? how much is enough? and how do we cut smartly in order to preserve America’s military might?

Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) believes Congress should undertake serious reforms to defense spending to maintain a sustainable fiscal path that preserves American power. To that end, over the past five months, CVA has produced five “case studies” that examine various examples of defense cuts and reforms, with an eye towards identifying what makes for smart, strategic, and effective defense reforms.

The “lessons learned” from each case study have been aggregated into a single document that provides the beginnings of an accessible blueprint for practical defense reform. The final report can be read below.