DOD Comptroller, Deputy Under Sec., NRO Dir., AF Asst. Sec. Nominations Hearing

come to order. And um to to begin with um the Senate has lost a um a giant, a a champion, a former member of this committee uh who though he went on to um other jurisdictions um was one of the strongest advocates for american strength and um american uh partnerships around the world um and and peace through strength um and that's the late uh senator lindsey graham of south carolina and so i'd ask all of us to bow our heads for a moment of silence in memory of senator graham Thank you very much. Um, Mister Ranking Member, and fellow members of the committee, since a quorum is now present, we will um ask the committee to consider a list of two thousand two hundred seventy-four pending military nominations. All of these nominations have been before the committee, the required length of time. Mister Ranking Member, is there a motion to report these two thousand two hundred seventy-four pending military nominations to the senate favorably

i so move

is there a second

second

the motion has been made and seconded all in favor say aye

aye

all opposed say no the ayes have it and the motion carries thank you all and this executive session is now adjourned and welcome to our distinguished visitors uh and their families I thank them for being here and for their willingness to serve their country. Um, the Honorable Jay Hurst has been nominated to serve as the Pentagon's Controller and Chief Financial Officer. If confirmed, he'll be responsible for working with Deputy Secretary Feinberg to develop the defense budget. He would oversee financial management and lead the department's effort to achieve a clean financial statement audit by the end of two thousand twenty eight. As we work toward a total defense top-line of one point five trillion dollars, a figure I have strongly endorsed, we'll need an adept controller. This person will manage a complex funding approach, one that combines base, discretionary appropriations, and mandatory reconciliation dollars. I note that some members of this this committee have concerns with the reconciliation process. Excuse me. Some of those concerns are normal. They've been shared by members of both parties, as the party in power used reconciliation to achieve party-aligned goals. But other concerns, again from colleagues on both sides of the aisle, have been about the lack of information on reconciliation from the Pentagon. I acknowledge that there were problematic delays in apportionment and decision-making through the end of calendar year twenty twenty five. However, I think there has been a significant improvement in execution and information flow over the past six months. And I credit Mister Hurst for his work on that front. We are not yet where we need to be, but we are headed in the right direction. So, uh, I think the committee is, um, going to appreciate Mister Hurst's commitment to, uh, continue providing all members of this committee with a full and free flow of information. Mister Matt O'Malley has been nominated to serve as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. It confirmed he will be responsible for helping the department as it implements the Forged Act, strengthens cooperation with allied and partner industrial bases and rebuilds American supply chains. The central challenge facing the Pentagon is not only producing more of what we already have, but also fundamentally changing the way the department acquires and sustains capabilities. The United States must do so if we hope to prevail in a protracted fight against a peer adversary. We must harness the uh innovation of our private sector by moving the defense acquisition strategy to a commercial first approach. I look forward to hearing how Mister O'Malley intends to drive that change. Doctor Eric Hernandez Baquero has been nominated to serve as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration. In this role he will act as an Acquisition Executive and as a Senior Architect for Space Systems across the Department of the Air Force. He will be responsible for delivering combat-ready space systems to the joint force and for integrating those weapons with commercial capabilities. The President's budget proposes um to more than double Space Force investments in the coming fiscal year. Doctor Hernandez Hernandez-Bacaro would also be responsible for stewarding the Space Force's sweeping transition to a new portfolio acquisition executive structure. I'm interested in how the Pentagon will continue to make our national security space capabilities, resilient, and proliferated, helping them face both kinetic and electronic attacks. And then Doctor Roger Mason has been nominated as Service Director of the National Reconnaissance Office. In this role he will lead the acquisition, launch, and operation of the nation's space-based reconnaissance systems. These systems provide critical imagery, signals, and other information to the Department of Defense and to the intelligence. community. If confirmed, Doctor Mason would help lead the office as it enters a new phase of intelligence data collection. The number of government and commercial satellites continues to grow rapidly. Consequently, we are collecting a dramatically increasing volume of data. We must use artificial intelligence effectively, if we hope to manage, analyze and deliver intelligence from these rapidly growing data sets. the nominee will also have to balance expanding commercial partnerships against the need to protect our most sensitive technologies and capabilities from our adversaries. So, uh, we look forward to hearing how Doctor Mason intends to meet these demands. With that, I welcome our witnesses and our guest, and I turn to my friend and colleague ranking member, Jack Reed.

Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and, uh, before I make comments about today's hearing i too wanna recognize lindsey graham um lindsey was um a unique personality i had the privilege of serving with him in the house and then later he joined us in the senate he was an articulate relentless advocate for our soldiers sailors marines airmen and guardians many uh reasons for that one is he himself served as a air force officer Um, he was uh the personification of a passionate patriot. And we miss him a great deal. Mister Chairman, thank you again. Good morning to our witnesses. Congratulations on your nominations. I'd like to welcome you and your family members that are here. Mister Hurst, you are nominated to be Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller. You have been performing the duties of this position since August of last year. If confirmed, you would be the first Senate confirmed Comptroller. in this administration. This committee cannot conduct meaningful oversight of more than one trillion dollars of the defense budget without a comptroller who is direct, forthcoming, and accountable to Congress. At this moment of financial uh issues in the department, uh some of the data is um let me say unclear. Mister Hirsch, you testified in April that the cost of the Iran war had reached thirty-one billion dollars, but acknowledge that figure did not include battle damage which is likely to be tens of billions of dollars and i would ask for an updated accounting today we have also received a supplemental request totaling eighty seven point six billion of which sixty seven point one billion is for the department of defense but not all of the funding is directly related to the operational cost of operation epic fury uh i have serious questions about the details of that request and i would appreciate more information. Similarly, the department's FY twenty twenty seven budget requests assumed an additional three hundred and fifty billion dollars in reconciliation funding for barracks, repair, and munitions, and aircraft procurement, among other priorities. In my view, the outlook for another reconciliation bill is very dubious. Mister Hurst, I wanna know the department's plan if that funding does not materialize. I would note that last year's reconciliation bill provided a hundred and fifty billion to the department of defense and the national nuclear security administration but as of earlier this month only sixty seven point five billion has been obligated this committee needs to know whether the department intends to obligate the remainder of that funding before september thirtieth and i expect a firm commitment to receive regular updates on obligation rates going forward finally on dhs reimbursements Since October two thousand twenty five, the Department of Defense has provided more than two billion dollars in support to the Department of Homeland Security however DHS has not reimbursed a dollar of that money and the impact on military training rotations, exercises, and personnel accounts is significant and growing. I would ask for clearance and when you expect that reimbursement to arrive and how the department is mitigating the impacts. In the meantime. Mister Ramelli, you are nominated to be Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. This position has broad responsibilities for delivering timely and cost-effective capabilities to our warfighters, maintaining those capabilities over many decades, supervising the defense industrial base, and overseeing the modernization of our nuclear forces. It is a demanding job that requires extensive experience in the acu- acquisition field. And I'm concerned that your background, primarily as an intelligence officer in the Navy reserves, and in investment management, does not provide adequate experience for this position. I would like to explain how you plan to fare for this role. The multi-year procurement negotiations currently underway for key munitions are among the most consequential acquisition decisions the department faces. And I'd like to understand your approach to accelerating munitions production, as well as your ideas for incentivizing industry to contribute more of their own resources to delivering these systems in greater numbers at speed. Doctor Mason, you are nominated to be the director of the National Reconnaissance Office. Your background as Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Systems and Resource Analysis should give you important familiarity with NRO's mission. The NRO is an inf- at an inflection point. For most of its history the agency's primary customers were the National Security Agency and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. That is changing. The retirement of the Air Force's JSTAR's aircraft has shifted the air and ground moving target indication mission primarily to the Space Force using proliferated satellites and the NRO is now acquiring most of those systems on the Space Force's behalf. This is a significant expansion of the nro s traditional role and it raises real questions about mission focus and institutional identity i want to understand how you would manage the nro s acquisition role while ensuring the space force retains the clan and acquisition authority the law requires and what priorities you have for nro in this rapidly evolving uh evolving environment finally doctor hernandez baquero you are nominated to be assistant of the air force for space acquisition and integration your experience in optical sciences and your experience at the nro will serve you well in this role however i wanna make sure your nomination will not create any perceived conflict of interest due to your previous employment which overlaps much of the same space force isr acquisition portfolio you would now supervise indeed the space force's isr budget is growing from seven billion last year to twelve billion this year nearly all of it in reconciliation funding that is a significant uh area of exposure and i want us to understand how you've divested yourself and the recusal plans you have going forward in addition i'd like to know your thoughts on this committee's long-standing concern about spacex's near monopoly position in launch and proliferated satellite constellations and how you ensure we have competition in these areas Thank you again to our nominees, and I look forward to your testimony. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you and that, and with that we will begin our opening statements. Um, we'll go uh left to right. Mister Hurst, your opening statement, sir.

Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reid, and distinguished members of the Armed Services Committee. Let me start by acknowledging the late Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Uh, Senator Graham was a patriot. He devoted his life to service and was a tireless advocate for America's service members in our national defense. I pray that God comforts his loved ones during their time of grief. It is an honor to appear before you today as President Trump's nominee to be the Undersecretary of War Cop-Troller and Chief Financial Officer. I'm grateful to the President, Secretary Haeg-Seth, and Deputy Secretary Feinberg for their confidence and for the opportunity to serve. I'm also grateful to my wife, Elizabeth, and our five children, Henry, Charlotte, victoria augustine and george for their love and support beth has learned more about the department's personnel policies and p p b than i suspect she's ever wanted to learn uh but she tells me she enjoys it she's an incredible wife and mother my family and i continue to owe the us military an enormous debt my grandfather sugar attended college on the g i o bill after serving as a marine during the war my father sunny provided my sister and i a middle class upbringing as an air force officer And I was fortunate enough to attend the College of William and Mary on an Army ROTC scholarship. Our military service made each of us better people, better fathers, and better citizens. Over the last two decades, I've been blessed with a great variety of assignments from the JSOC Intelligence Brigade to the Office of the Speaker of the House. I've held an equal variety of positions in this administration. Since January twenty twenty five, I performed the duties of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, the Assistant Secretary for Readiness, and the Under Secretary Koptschuler. I now serve as the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. These positions are united by a common thread, my desire to improve the department as an institution to better protect the American people. If confirmed as Under Secretary Koptschuler, I will focus on three main priorities. First, the department must pass a clean financial statement audit by twenty twenty eight. We must prove our fiscal responsibility to the American people. As the PTDO Comptroller, I advanced a new audit strategy, helped create the joint task force audit, and hired an incredible audit leadership team. If confirmed, I will continue this work with the talented service comptrollers to drive towards a clean opinion. We will focus our resources on the largest vulnerabilities in our financial statements and apply artificial intelligence to expedite testing as we consolidate systems and apply controls. Second, the department must continue to construct budgets that align with the ongoing evolutions in warfare. and continue expanding our industrial base. As we build sixth generation aircraft, we must also place equivalent bets on affordable mass, autonomous platforms, and EW space and cyber systems. The fielding integration of manned unmanned systems and high and low-cost platforms is critical to our operational success. Third, I will focus on improving financial management systems and processes across the department. The department of War Management is one of the most complex financial enterprises in the world. We must consolidate resource planning tools, establish data standards, and create systems to see resource distributions in real time to improve decision making. If confirmed, I commit to continuing a full court press to achieve a clean financial statement opinion in twenty twenty eight, budgeting for the evolving character of warfare, and modernizing our financial systems and processes. Thank you for the honor of being here today. I look forward to your questions.

Thank you very much, uh, Mister Hearst, Mister O'Malley, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mister Chairman, and please allow me to pass along my condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Senator Lindsey Graham. May the perpetual light shine upon him. Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reid, and distinguished members of this committee, good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and for your consideration of my nomination to serve as Deputy Under Secretary of War, for acquisition and sustainment. I'm deeply grateful to President Trump, Vice President Vance and Secretary Exeith for honoring me with this nomination. I also wish to extend my profound thanks to the Honorable Under Secretary Michael Duffy for his leadership, trust and support. It's confirmed it will be the privilege of a lifetime to support him in a role so critical to the department's mandate to rebuild our military and revitalize our defense industrial base. I would not be sitting before you today without the unwavering support of God and my family. Many thanks to my wife, Carrie, and our children. Ella, Shana, Raleigh, Jake, and Grant. I grew up working on my family's tree farm in Wisconsin. On that farm I learned the value of hard work, resilience, and stewardship, principles that have guided my career ever since. To go from planting trees in those fields to sitting before this esteemed committee is a testament to the exceptional promise of this country. It is a trajectory that can truly only happen in America. My career has been defined by a relentless focus on the intersection of national security and technology. For over two decades, I have served as an enlisted intelligence specialist and intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve. In that capacity, I have gained firsthand knowledge of the threat confronting our service members, from Iraq and Syria to the European command. Concurrently, as a small business owner, I founded Looking Glass Investments, a firm leveraging big data and machine learning to create complex risk models. Leading this specialized enterprise gave me a deep practical understanding of how advanced data analytics can solve intractable problems. It also taught me the real-world hurdles the innovative vendors face when attempting to navigate complex requirements to deliver cutting-edge solutions. In government, I've had the privilege of serving in key advisory roles. Prior to serving in my current capacity as Senior Advisor to the Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment which I began in March of this year, I served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of War. In that role, I was honored to sport the Secretary's nationwide Arsenal Freedom Tour. We traveled from the shipyards of our coasts, to the aerospace facilities and factories of our heartland. What was most gratifying for me was meeting the men and women of our defense industrial base, the true lifeblood of our national defense. In every engagement I had the opportunity to convey Secretary Haegseth and Secretary Duffy's primary charge of the department, deliver integrated capabilities to our war fighters quickly and at scale. As Secretary Haegseth has established, we are in a war footing. We must restore the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and re-establish deterrence. We face a highly competitive strategic environment. We are engaged in a high-stakes competition with adversaries who possess both advanced capabilities and the massive industrial base required to produce them. Under President's Trump, uh, under President Trump's leadership, we have the blueprint to meet this challenge. Executive Order one four two six five mandates that we modernize, acquisitions, and spur innovation, recognizing that a robust factory floor is a critical enabler of battlefield success. If confirmed, I will aggressively support the ongoing transition to a dynamic war-fighting acquisition system ensuring we feel technology at a rate that outpaces our adversaries. To achieve this, we must also prioritize the warfighter in all defense contracting, consistent with executive order one four three seventy-two. If confirmed, I will work to ensure our supply chains are highly resilient, and that capital is effectively managed. These executive actions are essential, and their impact is greatly enhanced by the legislative partnership of this committee. I want to thank the Chairman and the Congress for your vital leadership in passing the FORGED Act. The department is already utilizing this critical legislation to recapitalize our manufacturing base secure our supply chains and revitalize the defense workforce. If confirmed, I look forward to working closely with this committee to maximize the authorities' grants about the FORGED Act to continue uh building our industrial strength. If confirmed, I pledge to work closely and transparently with you. I will be fully accountable to the President, the Secretary, the Congress, and the American people. resource our military arsenal with urgency and precision. Thank you for your time and for your consideration of my nomination. I look forward to your questions.

Thank you, Mr. O'Malley. Doctor Mason, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mister Chairman, I also wanna begin by expressing my sympathy uh to the members of this committee for the loss of your friend and colleague, Senator Graham. Senator Graham was a stalwart of the for the defense intelligence enterprise and his leadership will be deeply missed. Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reid, and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to consider my nomination to be the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office. I want to thank President Trump and Secretary Hexler for their trust and confidence in me to return to government service and fulfill this important national security position. Family is my bedrock, and I'm grateful beyond words for their support, their sacrifice, and unconditional love. First, I want to thank my parents, who instilled in me the importance of being accountable, the value of hard work, and the promise of education. I'm most grateful to my remarkable wife of thirty years, Colleen. She inspires me every day and sets the example of selfless service to our family. Together, we're incredibly proud of our three cur children, John, Joseph, and Caroline, who are just now beginning their own lives based on those new those same values. I was born only a few miles from here in Alexandria, Virginia, and have since been a lifelong resident of Virginia. Growing up, my parents pressed the importance of education with my sister and I, and we became first generation college graduates. For me, applying science to solve hard problems was the passion for learning. This drive resulted in earning a PHD in engineering physics from the University of Virginia which gave me a strong base to begin a career in national security. In my first job after graduate school, I led teams to develop and deploy remote sensors into a global system, linked by satellites, for national security missions. Simply put, I fell in love with the mission and devoted the next thirty-two years of my career, serving it in both industry and government. Over these three decades, I honed my leadership, experience, skills, and abilities to enable me to bring the right leadership at this moment in time, to the National Reconnaissance Office. As President of a Space and Intelligence Business, I led a multi-billion dollar organization with over forty five hundred employees that provided advanced manufacturing, products, services and solution for every phase of space-based missions. I was honored to serve as the first Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Systems and Resource Analysis, driving strategic capability investments, developing intelligence requirements, and conducting independent cost estimates on every major system acquisition. In that role, I gained valuable insight across all intelligence missions from the strategic to the tactical, from counterterrorism to foreign military combat capabilities and everything in between. Today marks an incredibly exciting time for space, not seen since the interval began, the dawn of space intelligence in the nineteen sixties. We are in a space renaissance, where the pace of technology advancement, the speed of innovation, and the promise of the future has drawn unprecedented investments from many sectors. The future of space and how our nation can use it for good seems limitless. Today, the NRO embarks on a new journey to fundamentally change how space-based intelligence is done. The future of space, however, is also contested. Adversaries are in a race to build their own capabilities, including counter space measures, capable of denying our nation's critical space missions. If confirmed, my priorities will focus on elevating NRO's strengths and emphasizing three major areas. The first, accelerate the next-gen space architecture that integrates proliferated and exquisite capabilities, to produce integrated intelligence data at mission speed. The second, enable NRO to push the leading edge of space technology and evade even faster. And the third, ensure enterprise-wide resilience from space vehicles to the ground and everything that connects the agency. These priorities will only be achieved with a vibrant mission-focused workforce and critical strategic partnerships. The NRO workforce is the heartbeat of the organization and demands the full attention of its leadership to attract develop, grow and retain its world-class talent. To deliver success, in a row, strategic partnerships with the military, intelligence agencies and our allies are essential. And we must continue to work closely with an expanding industrial base. All of these relationships must be built with strong communications, transparent processes, and a spirit of problem solving. Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reid, and distinguished members of the committee, I conclude these remarks by giving you my commitment that if confirmed, i will bring the very best of my energy and skills in service to the nation to lead the nro with the strength it deserves and the future vision it demands thank you for your time today and i look forward to answering your questions

thank you doctor mason doctor hernandez beckero

good morning chairman wicker, ranking member reed and distinguished members of this committee i want to first express my deepest sympathy to all who mourn the recent passing of senator lindsey graham as a fellow air force veteran I am saddened to see him slip the surly bonds of earth and pray his last high flight brings him the joy of touching the face of God. Senator Graham's lifelong dedication to the nation sets a great example for those called to serve the cause of freedom. I thank this committee for the opportunity to appear before you to answer this call. If confirmed, I would be honored to serve as the second Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, for space acquisition and integration. This opportunity is only possible by the grace of God and his divine providence. I humbly thank President Trump, Secretary Hexeth, and Secretary Mink for their trust and confidence in me. I am eternally grateful to my family, friends and colleagues who supported me through thirty-six years of military service in the Air Force and executive leadership in the space industry. Most especially I thank my wife, Kimberly, and my sons, Curtis and Nathan, who deserve recognition for their steadfast love and patriotism. It is this love and patriotism that brings us here today. Our nation faces rapidly growing threats in and from space. Adversaries are increasing their anti-satellite capabilities attempting to deny our freedom of action in space. Additionally, adversaries seek to hold our homeland at risk with advanced space-enabled weapons systems designed to evade our defenses. To counter these threats, we must move quickly to seize the opportunities made possible by the most innovative and productive industry in the world. To do so, if confirmed, I will focus on three priorities, space acquisition reform, mission integration, and the acquisition workforce. I am excited by the acquisition reform the department and this Congress have started. If confirmed, I will further the implementation of these reforms by optimizing work for speed, harnessing commercial innovations, adopting new business models, and focusing on mission outcomes. I have done this as a military officer and as a business leader, and it works. If confirmed, I will codify this approach in acquisition strategies and implement change through good execution of space programs, emphasizing technical expertise, sound risk management, agile processes, and mission-driven operational support. These changes will foster a culture of excellence and innovation critical to mission success. In recent years, progress has been made in making space acquisitions nimbler through the development of smaller satellites and modular software-driven architectures. Such architectures can be fielded faster and at lower unit cost, but they create significant integration challenges. as no single system can perform the full mission. If confirmed, I will drive mission integration by validating capabilities end-to-end early and often, taking advantage of the new mission-aligned Portfolio Acquisition Executives, PAEs. If confirmed, I will also establish key mission threads, such as pace enable, kill chains, to close gaps, increase efficiency, maximize capacity, and ensure interoperability. Finally, if confirmed, I will partner with stakeholders using the authority that Congress established as chair of the Space Acquisition Council to ensure architectural alignment across the space enterprise. None of these efforts are possible without the professionalism of a talented acquisition workforce. In my experience, we lose talent when people are not empowered with decision authority and are shackled by red tape. If confirmed, I will champion initiatives to revitalize and sustain a vibrant workforce. These include promoting a mission-first culture, proactively managing careers, enhancing training and education, and ensuring programs are staffed with the right people and the right job. Finally, if confirmed, I will personally coach and mentor every PAE, modeling the behavior I expect from them. In the end, the acquisition workforce needs to be recognized for the essential war-fighting function they perform. In summary, if confirmed, I commit to advance space acquisition reform, energize mission integration, and revitalize the workforce, working closely with Congress to accelerate delivery of innovative space capabilities to the warfighter. Thank you and I look forward to your questions.

Uh, thank you, Doctor Hernandez-Piqueiro. Um, in paying tribute to um my friend, Senator Lindsey Graham, Um, you quoted a few words from High Flight by John Gillespie, John Gillespie McGee, Junior. That is um, a special poem to me and to um, many of my fellow service veterans, and I, I thank you for uh, for doing that and commend that work of literature to um, everyone listening. Um, I'll now ask you a series of standard questions this committee poses. to all civilian nominees and please just answer yes or no um have you adhered to applicable laws and regulations governing conflicts of interest

yes yes yes

have you assumed any duties or taken any actions that would appear to presume the outcome of the confirmation process

no no

exercising our legislative and oversight responsibilities makes it important that this committee, its subcommittees and other appropriate committees of congress, receive testimony, briefings, reports, records and other information from the executive branch on a timely basis. Do you agree, if confirmed, to appear and testify before this committee when requested?

Yes. Yes.

Do you agree to provide records, documents and electronic communications in a timely manner when requested by this committee, its subcommittees,

Yeah. Yes.

or other appropriate committees to appropriate committees of congress and to consult with the requester

yeah

regarding the basis for any good faith delay

yes

or denial in providing such records

yes yes

will you you know that is a problem that i think um the distinguished ranking member and members of this of the committee would say that we've had to face Uh, so it's good to hear your answer of uh in the affirmative there. Will you ensure that your staff complies with deadlines established by this committee for the production of reports, records and other information, including timely responding to hearing questions for the record?

Yes. Yes.

Will you cooperate in providing witnesses and

Yes.

briefers in response to congressional requests?

Yes. Yes.

Will those witnesses and briefers be protected from reprisal for their testimony or briefings.

Yes. Yes.

Thank you very much. Um, and uh, and now um, we um, we we begin with um, um, a round of questions, um, by members of the committee, and um, and, and i'll begin by, um, by asking this to you, mister O'Malley. The, the last NDAIA that we passed uh shifted a burden um toward what we call commercial first. Is that a term that is uh familiar to you, sir?

Yes, Senator.

OK. Well, for the benefit of of uh the the Americans listening, um we shifted the burden from if you're gonna buy commercial you have to get approval. Um um to requiring approvals if you're not going to buy commercial so if uh if you're gonna buy a commercial you don't have to have a prior approval anymore um that that means we made commercial procurement the preferred option in contracting however since the executive order was signed pursuant to legislation passed by the congress and signed by the president of the united states the department has actually reduced its commercial spending by nearly one percentage point. That's going in the wrong direction, according to the statute. So how would you make sure commercial first is taken seriously um and and actually is implemented according to statute?

Uh, yes, Senator. So, as it relates to commercial first, um, I appreciate that data that you just shared. I had not been aware of that. certainly not heading in the right direction um we know from the discussions of commercial first um that we need to work with the services to accelerate the adoption of of uh commercial first solutions uh there are proven commercial tools we know exist um and this goes to the secretary's emphasis on the speed of relevance commercial first is certainly part of that um there's uh an opportunity here to solve readiness bottlenecks um introduce the department to new and innovative companies. Um, uh, and if confirmed, um, I will certainly focus on statute and executive order to make commercial first a priority.

No, that, thank you, and that should go without saying, but but let's let's be clear. If you're not going to buy commercial items, they've gotta come get approval. You understand that?

Yes, senator.

Alright, OK. Well, um, I I very much appreciate that. Um, now, uh, Mister Hurst, I bet you are aware that, that there is, um, some, uh, some, um, dissatisfaction on the part of Congress, uh, about the slow rates of obligation of funds, uh, provided for in reconciliation. Um, uh, you are aware of, of um frustrations and complaints coming from congress in that regard are you not

yes chairman

and um so how uh do you propose that that we resolve um that problem and that frustration

uh well chairman let me first start by saying that i think the the reconciliation bill that this congress passed has been incredibly important for the department of defense

thank you thank you OK.

Uh.

And and so, uh, uh, do I understand your uh, your position to be that, um, the department understands this that you are are moving in the right direction and that you're gonna continue to provide members of this committee and members of the congress with full and free flow of information in that regard.

Yes, chairman, and before I left the position of PTO comptroller, I was working with the services to create some visualization tools, which should accelerate the gathering of this data, which would make it easier to share with congress.

Uh, OK, and and then, doctor Mason, we we uh we're running out of time, but um, You you're gonna have to, as I said in my opening statement, balance um expanding commercial partnerships with the need for um for um keeping sensitive technologies uh and capabilities away from our adversaries. Uh, that's a balancing act. Um, how do you intend to meet these demands?

uh chairman wicker the uh the heart of that that question is really in the next-gen architecture that um is composed of both proliferated and exquisite technology the exquisite being more reference to uh the the national technical means that you reference in that regard uh we have to do both uh and to do both the commercial element of that is essential it is now integrated part of the architecture And so, uh, as you, as you embark in that, uh, the security to protect secrets, whether those are born from how you use the commercial or the exquisite capabilities are really the same and something looking from the outside in, NRO has done a remarkable job of in the past, and I certainly will be committed to the same, um, in the future.

Well, thank you very much. Um, as you, as the three of you know, I've mentioned those matters in my opening statement. Um, the fact that I asked My questions about them is, it consists of a foot stomp about the importance of those matters. Senator Reid.

Uh, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. First um, Secretary Hurst, I must commend your children for their poise and patience, all of which is attributable to your wife, I'm sure. Um, but with that as an introduction, uh, we have had problems getting information from you and from the Department of Defense. For example, in March I asked for information on the course, the operations in Iran, and my staff followed up numerous times. Uh, we received a response on May eleventh from the Assistant Secretary of Legislative Affairs that referred me to your testimony, but during those hearings you didn't provide details and said you'd get back to the committees, and uh then your nomination intervened. So, uh, our staffs have been asking consistently for this information and uh i don't think we're alone in being uh frustrated if confirmed you commit to respond rapidly to my existing inquiries and also additional inquiries going forward

uh mister ranking member i'm a former congressional staffer i i believe in congress's oversight role and if confirmed i will work with this committee to provide the appropriate data and answer your rfis

i can't emphasize enough and you know from your position if we don't know what the is going on then we're not in a position to make judicious decisions so it's absolutely essential and uh this is uh been a consistent hallmark i think of the department uh not giving us the information we're legally entitled to in a timely fashion so thank you uh mister mali uh what do you see as the main levers that DOD can use to get industry industry to invest more of its own money in expanding production and self-funded research and development

uh mr. ranking member as an incentive to industry to increase their r and d spending um i certainly believe the multi-year procurement um authority that this committee in congress has given has been very helpful and will continue to be helpful r and d and on if if it's ok to say i'd like to add facilitation cost as well um this has been a powerful lever to drive down unit cost um expand industrial capability um and and work on securing our supply chains um it gives the defense industrial base stability um and predictability so they can they can continue to make those investments it's a long-term demand signal for them um and it also allows suppliers to make larger capital commitments uh throughout the process

um one of the question is that uh there is a debate about defense contractors stock buybacks particularly in situations where they're not meeting budget or and cost uh what's your opinion on that

um mr. ranking member um i i certainly believe that taxpayer dollars should be used to deliver combat capability um not for financial engineering um and uh as it relates to this the department needs to be a tougher customer co- contractors should not be prioritizing stock buybacks or bonuses um and this is an accountability question and we need to get up get after that up front uh the president expects capability to be delivered to the war fighter um fast and at better cost and if confirmed this will certainly be a priority

thank you doctor mason uh we're in a transition as you indicated in your testimony uh the jstosh used to be the uh the most significant air and ground movement target indicator system we have now that's moving into space space force has operational command and control but nro is doing a great deal uh in terms of acquisition of the the space the satellites etcetera uh are you worried that nro might become too operationally focused on near term space force requirements

Ranking member Reid, uh first of all thank you for taking the time to visit, I appreciate that very much.

Yes sir.

Um let me start by saying that the relationship, the coordination between the United States Space Force and the NRO is essential. It's the cornerstone for space dominance for the for for the nation. Uh at the same time, the roles and responsibilities are quite clear. Space force organized, trained, and equipped, NRO provides space-based intelligence for the IC as well as as the warfighter. when i look at uh from the outside in uh what has occurred in terms of the moving target indicator first ground then airborne i view it as actually a uh a a lesson in good government uh in terms of the gmti the ground mti uh that was a case where uh the department uh took some existing technology that was being developed by the nro and then instead of starting a brand new program adapted that technology which would have been far cheaper and we certainly uh uh got it on orbit a lot quicker. amti as i understand it will take us to the next step that's actually being procured by the space force on a recent uh announcement they made so to me this is a good progression of good government decision in terms of taking strengths and moving them into uh areas where they should be done uh by the military.

thank you my time's expired uh doctor herández vacarro thank you uh and i look forward to uh working with you i will also If there are questions, I will just submit them for the record. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. I do anticipate there'll be a a number of questions for the record. Senator Fischer.

Thank you, Mister Chairman, and thank all of you for being here today and for your willingness to continue to serve your country uh if confirmed in these new nominations uh Doctor Mason, are there opportunities for increased collaboration between intelligence and military space programs? And if so, can you tell us one or two that you may have thought of?

Cer- certainly. First of all, uh, Senator S- Fisher, uh, I also thank you for the time we spent. I appreciate you making, making that. I found it very valuable. Uh, yes, Senator, I, I think the coordination and collaboration between the warfighter and the intelligence community is essential, and it makes us o- only stronger. Uh, to give you an example in terms of a space base, um, um, program that was done in coordination with the space force and the nro that's public uh a program called silent barker which is really for space situational awareness and again it it follows the same pattern as uh as the moving target indicator starting with some strengths that the nro had in terms of developing these type of spacecraft and instead of developing a whole new system applying resources that were very clear which were coming from the department versus which were