Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) elicited a promise from Pentagon weapons buyer nominee Ashton Carter that he would “serve up the best acquisition strategy as honestly as I possibly can” if he gets the job and thus must supervise the re-bid for the KC-X tanker program. During the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing March 26, Sessions asked whether Carter would include “best value” in his consideration of the Boeing and Northrop Grumman tankers and not, as he had heard, base the decision “purely on price.” Carter replied: I would use exactly the traditional process of best value in this case and attach the weights to the various parameters that go into best value, of which price is one—and call it like I see it.”
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.