To amend title 10 to shorten breach reporting timelines, increase program transparency, and improve congressional oversight of Department of Defense cost overruns with respect to the cost growth for major systems, and for other purposes.

This bill aims to cut waste in major Defense Department programs by speeding up alerts, counting full costs, and forcing action when costs spiral. It requires the department to notify Congress within 30 days when cost reports show a breach, instead of waiting longer, so lawmakers can respond sooner. It also makes certain cost reports public on a Defense Department website, increasing transparency for taxpayers.

The bill tightens which projects must be closely tracked. If a big program delivers two or more end items and each one is expected to cost more than $500 million over its life (including research, testing, operations, and support), each item must be treated as its own “major” subprogram for reporting. This helps catch problems earlier. It also adds operations and support costs into the reports, so the full cost is considered, not just development or buying costs .

Key points

• Who is affected: Major Defense Department acquisition programs; Congress; taxpayers who fund them.
• Faster alerts: Congress must be notified within 30 days after certain cost reports show a breach.
• Wider reporting: Expensive end items (over $500 million each, counting research, testing, operations, and support) must be tracked as separate major subprograms; operations and support costs are included in oversight reports .
• Public transparency: Required cost-growth reports must be posted online by the Defense Department.
• Stronger consequences: After a second critical cost breach, the program must be shut down within 90 days, and the Secretary of Defense cannot delegate the required certification. When ending a program, the department must choose a plan that saves the most money, which could include immediately stopping, finishing only items already in production, or completing items when their resale value is higher than the cost to finish them.