Two prominent lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced a bipartisan bill that aims to simplify the defense acquisition process in order to speed the delivery of new systems and technologies to the military’s front lines. The measure, called the “Streamlining Acquisition for Efficient Execution and Delivery Act,” or the “SPEED Act,” is the latest in a series of moves by policymakers in recent months to reduce the bureaucracy surrounding how the Defense Department purchases equipment.
A Rare Priority With Bipartisan Support
The latest proposal was submitted by the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and senior member of the committee Adam Smith (D-Wash.) It has the support of leading Republicans and Democrats, including U.S. Attorney Richard Mann, D.C., and other prominent Republicans and Democrats, making the bill a rare bipartisan priority in the House and an anticipated focal point of debates on the annual defense authorization bill.
In a bill summary provided to reporters on Monday, the pair said the current system is “too slow, rigid and bureaucratic to meet today’s urgent needs.” “The requirements process alone can take more than two years. That’s followed by a rigid budget process that adds another three years, and then a lengthy contracting process. In total, it can take more than a decade from identifying a capability gap to arming our warfighters with a solution. By then, the threat will have changed, the technology will be outdated and the program will be over budget,” the lawmakers wrote, underscoring the seriousness of the current situation.
Comprehensive Regulation and Goals
The comprehensive arrangement will establish a new board of directors to serve as a decision-making center led by senior defense leaders. Requirements, Purchasing and Programming Integration Directorate (RAPID) It also plans to provide new powers to rapidly test, approve and purchase new military systems.
Supporters of the bill say this change and a number of new program requirements would improve the program verification process Reducing from 800 days to three months He said it could help. This would mean a revolutionary acceleration in defense procurement.
Emphasis on National Security and Industrial Base
Sponsors argue that the procurement problem is not just about efficiency and cost savings. They say the current system — “optimized to avoid failure rather than deliver capabilities rapidly to the warfighter” — jeopardizes national security because the country lacks the surge capacity in its industrial base to sustain its forces during a protracted military conflict. That underscores the vital importance of reforming the procurement process to maintain U.S. defense capacity against modern threats.
Other Reform Initiatives and Next Steps
House officials are supporting the SPEED Act, which was introduced late last year by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) Defense Reform and Promotion of Government Efficiency Act (FORGED) The FORGED Act also focuses on updates to the procurement process for faster development and production timelines.
The White House announced in April its efforts to reorganize how the Pentagon buys weapons, saying, “Our defense acquisition system does not provide the speed and flexibility our armed forces need to achieve decisive advantages in the future.”
The work to combine all of these ideas into a single reform package will likely begin in the House Armed Services Committee, which is expected to introduce a draft of the annual defense authorization bill in the next few weeks. The bill is one of the few remaining pieces of legislation in an increasingly partisan Congress that has been passed for more than 60 years. Wicker and Rogers are expected to work on reconciliation language through the rest of the summer. Regardless of the final legislation, House officials said, strengthening the defense-industrial base will require a significant financial investment from the government, and they hope to see that money approved as part of ongoing budget negotiations.
This bill aims to fundamentally reform the U.S. defense acquisition system, creating a more agile and effective response capacity to rapidly changing global threats.
