Why Is the Pentagon Barring Soldiers From Repairing Their Weapons?

Jim Hightower
Tue, 27 Jan 2026 23:00:00 -0800
Opinion

The U.S. military has long been an easy mark — for our own avaricious corporate contractors, that is.

During the Civil War, for example, J.P. Morgan sold rifles to the Union army, which cost him only $3.50 each, but he charged the military $22 each. Worse, his rifles were defective, blowing off the thumbs of soldiers who fired them. Still, a Congressional committee ruled that Morgan had a "legal" contract and had to be paid in full.

Which brings us to the screwball contracts the Pentagon routinely signs these days with multibillion-dollar corporate con artists hawking weaponry. These gougers, though, have streamlined their taxpayer thievery by automatically inserting a corporate gotcha in nearly every Pentagon contract. It makes it illegal for the military to repair the weapons and systems they have bought!
Updated: Wed Jan 28, 2026

The U.S. military has long been an easy mark — for our own avaricious corporate contractors, that is.

During the Civil War, for example, J.P. Morgan sold rifles to the Union army, which cost him only $3.50 each, but he charged the military $22 each. Worse, his rifles were defective, blowing off the thumbs of soldiers who fired them. Still, a Congressional committee ruled that Morgan had a "legal" contract and had to be paid in full.

Which brings us to the screwball contracts the Pentagon routinely signs these days with multibillion-dollar corporate con artists hawking weaponry. These gougers, though, have streamlined their taxpayer thievery by automatically inserting a corporate gotcha in nearly every Pentagon contract. It makes it illegal for the military to repair the weapons and systems they have bought!

A drone won't fly? An AI system goes haywire? Anti-aircraft rockets fail? DON'T touch the systems! No — you must call a corporate-approved tech repair person or take the malfunctioning gizmo to the manufacturer.

Yes, this is insane, unworkable, immoral ... and the very definition of "snafu." But corporate profiteers have made it the law. At last, though, soldiers, battleground commanders and common-sense members of both parties are rebelling, supporting Sen. Elizabeth Warren's "Warrior Right to Repair Act." Pathetically, Congress and avaricious contractor lobbyists recently defeated this bill, wailing that contractor property rights are more important than authorizing soldiers to make lifesaving repairs in the field.

The fight goes on, though, and you can help. Two lawmakers who engineered this travesty are Mike Rogers of Alabama and Adam Smith of Washington State, both of whom take hundreds of thousands of dollars from the war profiteers. To fight their insanity, go to pirg.org/repair.

GOP SOLUTION TO CONGRESSIONAL CORRUPTION: JUST LEGALIZE IT!

If you're ever asked to define the word oxymoron, just say, "Congressional ethics." People instinctively burst out guffawing at the absurdity of linking Congress to upright behavior.

But surprisingly, Republican congressional leaders say they're now taking a bold stand for a little less corruption among their own members, targeting lawmakers who've been secretly enriching themselves through "insider stock trading." Actually, the leaders were forced to support this bit of reform because of public outrage over the dirty dealing of Rep. Rob Bresnahan. This multimillionaire Republican was caught using his insider position last year to profit from the GOP's gutting of Medicaid benefits for poor people.

So, last month, the party's designated ethics watchdog, Bryan Steil, rose on his hind legs to introduce the Stop Insider Trading Act. "If you want to trade stocks," Steil howled in operatic outrage, "go to Wall Street."

Bravissimo! Except it was a fraud. Far from stopping the self-enriching stock scams of lawmakers like Bresnahan, Steil's bill basically legalizes their corrupt transactions. For example, members could keep trading stocks in corporations they supposedly oversee. And, in the loopiest of loopholes, sneaky lawmakers are authorized to have their spouses buy and sell stocks on the member's behalf.

Then, showing his party's true colors, Steil exclaimed that we outsiders should not even push Congress to pass an honest, outright ban on insider trading — because that would discourage wealthy business executives from choosing to enter "public service."

Hello, that gives us two reasons to demand a ban. First, to impose a minimal ethical standard on lawmakers, and second, to shoo off self-serving monopolists and plutocrats from controlling the public's agenda.