WASHINGTON DC (December 20, 2019) — Following inquiries from Senator Charles "Chuck" Grassley regarding TransDigm Group Inc’s (TransDigm) price-gouging of spare parts purchased by the Department of Defense (DoD), Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen M Lord provided further information about DoD’s TransDigm contracts and the efforts DoD is taking to protect taxpayer dollars.
“I appreciate Under Secretary Lord’s answers to my questions. The Defense Department needs to continue to be transparent on the issues it faces with respect to overpricing and price gouging on spare parts. I am hopeful that the new ‘Cadre of Experts’ is ready to tackle these issues and stop the egregious spare-parts rip-offs that were uncovered by the Inspector General earlier this year. While I’m looking forward to working with the department to assure that it is working diligently to protect taxpayer dollars, I’ll continue to conduct aggressive oversight to ensure that these goals are in fact met,” Sen Grassley said.
Sen Grassley has been a watchdog against waste, fraud, and abuse at DoD for nearly four decades. Sen Grassley’s extensive oversight work throughout his career has included a dogged pursuit for answers from the Pentagon over decades of wasteful spending and its inability to produce a clean financial audit.
In his October letter to Under Secretary Lord, Sen Grassley asked a series of questions about what DoD is doing to aggressively confront and end the excessive price-gouging of spare parts by TransDigm.
Full text of Under Sec Lord’s response can be found HERE.
