It seems clear that Sen. Fischer has not heeded President Eisenhower’s January 17, 1961, warning about the threat posed by the ‘military-industrial complex’. Beginning in 2013, Fischer has voted for the annual National Defense Authorization Act (as either the Senate bill or the conference report) a total of 14 times, while opposing it only once. Many of these bills contained spending far above what the Department of Defense needed or what various presidents requested.
Sen. Fischer serves as the ranking minority member on the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the Senate Armed Services Committee. This panel has oversight of budget accounts for procurement and RDT&E for DoD nuclear and strategic forces, missile defense, space systems, Department of Energy defense and non-proliferation programs. In addition, Fischer sits on the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, whose responsibilities include: contracting and acquisition policy; business and financial management; and oversight of key Pentagon budget accounts.
Fischer bills herself as a fiscal conservative who is tight with the public’s dollars but what is very troubling is Sen. Fischer’s acceptance of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from major defense contractors who have ripped off taxpayers on numerous instances of misconduct ranging from overbilling and overcharging to contract fraud and other serious violations of federal law.
Between 2014 -2024, Sen. Fischer has taken $145,793 in donations from five of the top 12 defense contractors who have committed 246 instances of misconduct between 1995-2018 and paid penalties of more than $3.8 billion (Project on Government Oversight http://www.pogo.org; OpenSecrets). For these firms, the fines are just another cost of doing business.
Northrop Grumman: 44 instances of misconduct, $888 million in penalties. $64,827 donations to Fischer. https://www.whistleblowergov.org/government-contracts.php?article=northrop-grumman-systems-corp-will-pay-31.65-million-to-settle-defense-contract-fraud-allegations_133
Boeing Co.: 68 instances of misconduct, $1.4 billion in penalties. $39.939 donations to Fischer.
Raytheon: 27 instances of misconduct, $490 million in penalties. $16,000 donations to Fischer.
Lockheed Martin: 85 instances of misconduct, $767 million in penalties. $15,026 donations to Fischer.
General Dynamics: 22 instances of misconduct, $280 million in penalties. $10,001 donations to Fischer.
Fischer did not join a bipartisan group of senators in signing a letter asking for an investigation of price gouging after a 60 Minutes expose in 2023 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senators-urge-pentagon-investigate-price-gouging-military-contractors-60-minutes-report/