Five U.S. senators, including two Democrats, two Republicans, and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, are seeking a Department of Defense (DoD) investigation into allegations of price gouging by U.S. arms manufacturers.
A CBS News “60 Minutes” report this week claimed systemic price gouging practices were used by major arms manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon, as well as major spare parts manufacturer TransDigm. The “60 Minutes” report, which followed a six-month investigation, found that the Pentagon’s fixed-price contracts would typically have 12-15 percent profit margins, but that defense contractors would often enjoy profit margins of 40 percent—and sometimes as high as 4,000 percent—through overcharges.
Spurred on by the CBS News report and other past allegations of price gouging, Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote a letter (pdf) to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, calling for further investigation.
“These companies have abused