House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, followed by fellow California Democrat Rep. Grace ... more >Many Republicans are reluctant to cut any defense spending, but Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican and Congress’ top waste-watcher, released a report Thursday arguing that there are billions of dollars to be cut from the Pentagon by eliminating spending or shifting services to civilian agencies or private companies.
His report singled out $300,000 spent by the Air Force to study the color of feathers on a 150-million-year-old bird; $1.5 million spent to develop a special rolled-up version of beef jerky; and $100,000 for a 2011 workshop on interstellar space travel that included a session probing how Christian theology about salvation would apply in the event aliens are discovered.
Mr. Coburn said his fellow Republicans are guilty of “having a blind eye on spending” when it comes to the Defense Department.
“Look, everything has to be on the table,” he said.
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Dave Boyer is a White House correspondent for The Washington Times. A native of Allentown, Pa., Boyer worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer from 2002 to 2011 and also has covered Congress for the Times. He is a graduate of Penn State University. Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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