Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley vowed to block Army civilian nominations Thursday unless the service uses millions in unspent, but promised funds to improve living conditions at Fort Leonard Wood.
The Army has failed to use the $41.4 million pledged for refurbishing the 1,142 family homes on post needing repair in fiscal year 2023 despite confirming its commitment to Hawley on the phone during the summer months, the senator wrote in a letter addressed to Army Secretary Christine Wormuth dated Oct. 5. Hawley said he would oppose confirmation for any Army civilians requiring unanimous consent in the Senate into their positions until the Army invests the promised funds into Fort Leonard Wood.
“In the ten months since the commitment was made, the Army has continually dragged its feet. Now we know for sure that you have broken your promise,” Hawley wrote.
The fiscal year 2023 just ended, and yet the Army has no plans to spend the funds until at least mid-December, Hawley said he learned.
The Army has promised to invest an additional $50 million in on-post housing in fiscal year 2024 and promised in May 2022 to deliver a plan for replacing all of the housing, the letter states. However, no such plan has reached Congress even though Hawley sent three letters requesting an update on the plan, the latest one reaching Wormuth’s desk in March.
“The Army’s inability to meet its own deadlines is unacceptable, and I will wait no longer. … The soldiers and families at Fort Leonard Wood deserve better, and it is your responsibility to deliver for them,” Hawley said in the letter.
A spokesperson for the Army said the service would not disclose correspondence with lawmakers, Stars and Stripes reported.
“The secretary will respond back to the senator directly as appropriate,” the spokesperson told the outlet.
This is April Gneist, whose husband SGT Andrew Gneist is currently in South Korea. They’ve been at Fort Leonard Wood since 2018 – but living in housing that should have been replaced years ago. 1100 homes at FLW need replaced. The Biden Admin needs to step up pic.twitter.com/4eD0yE1Pjl
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) August 17, 2022
The hold would add any high-level Army civilian nominations to the more than 300 military officers whose promotions are already subject to Republican Alabaman Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s unilateral block in the Senate. In September, the Senate voted one-by-one to confirm three of the top nominees.
Hawley has focused on conditions at Fort Leonard Wood for years, according to a press release. But problems with housing conditions on military bases are not unique to that installation.
A Government Accountability Office report found that military barracks, which are not privatized like some family housing units, are in a decrepit state and that the military does not adequately monitor housing conditions. Investigators toured ten random installations and discovered serious health, safety and quality of life problems.
The Army did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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