Memo to Trump: Cut the Pentagon’s Chemical and Biological Defense Program
January 17, 2025 | Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists | by Al Mauroni
A MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT: DISESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT’S CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL DEFENSE PROGRAM
Mr. President, in the first half of your second term, you will have a unique opportunity to make the federal government more efficient and reduce the size and spending of its executive agencies. One of your targets should be to eliminate the Defense Department’s Chemical and Biological Defense Program. This was once a well-run program that delivered specific results tailored to a mission: protecting American troops and personnel operating in dangerous and contaminated areas. But now the program has expanded to cover areas such as natural disease outbreaks that are already the focus of other government agencies and in ways that do not further the goal of improving military chemical-biological defense. By reducing excessive bureaucracy at the Pentagon and returning this program to Army control, you can improve our country’s ability to counter potential opponents like North Korea and save significant money in the process.