On July 14, 2023, Republican Congressman Aaron Bean (FL-4) issued a press release patting himself on the back for voting in favor of the House of Representatives’ version of the National Defense Appropriation Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024. Under background information, the press release included the following:
The FY24 NDAA recognizes the critical role Northeast Florida plays in our national defense and strengthens that role for years to come by protecting and supporting the missions of our Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and Destroyers stationed at Naval Station Mayport.
Either Bean is unfamiliar with the long and sordid history of the LCS fleet or he is unwilling to tell his constituents that these vessels are the “poster children” for waste in the Department of Defense. The extent to which the GOP/MAGA representative from Florida’s 4th congressional district betrayed his constant bellyaching about “waste, fraud and abuse” was documented in a February 3, 2023 New York Times article by Eric Lipton titled, “The Pentagon Saw a Warship Boondoggle. Congress Saw Jobs.”
The 387-foot-long warships tied up at the Jacksonville Navy base were acclaimed as some of the most modern in the United States fleet: nimble, superfast vessels designed to operate in coastal waters and hunt down enemy submarines, destroy anti-ship mines and repel attacks from small boats, like those often operated by Iran.
But the Pentagon last year made a startling announcement: Eight of the 10 Freedom-class littoral combat ships now based in Jacksonville and another based in San Diego would be retired, even though they averaged only four years old and had been built to last 25 years.
The decision to begin decommissioning the ships was based on the fleet’s less than stellar performance. According to a Defense Department audit, the LCSs “suffered a series of humiliating breakdowns, including repeated engine failures and technical shortcomings in an anti-submarine system intended to counter China’s growing naval capacity.” This assessment was confirmed in the September 8, 2023 edition of Stars and Strips, in which ProPublica journalist Joaquin Sapien wrote about the maiden voyage of the first LCS Freedom-class vessel.
It took investigators months to unravel the mystery of the engine’s breakdown. But this much was clear from the outset: The Freedom’s collapse was another unmistakable sign that the Navy had spent billions of dollars and more than a decade on warships with rampant and crippling flaws.
But that did not stop Mr. “Fiscal Responsibility” from promoting continued funding for the LCS Freedom program, despite telling his constituents other government contracts were indicative of the need to “drain the swamp.” To make sure we fully understood the breadth of his hypocrisy, just four months later, on November 19, 2024, Bean announced he and Texas congressman Pete Sessions had co-founded the DOGE congressional caucus and touted the group’s mission as follows.
I’m thrilled with President-elect Trump’s appointment of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE, but taking on Crazy Town will be no easy task—they will need partners. Our DOGE Caucus, will work closely with the Department of Government Efficiency to help rein in reckless spending and stop the abuse of taxpayer dollars.
Therefore, the only possible explanation for his contradictory support of the LCS boondoggle is that old adage, “Waste, fraud and abuse begins at home.”
For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP
Bean loves the light of publicity. He hates to learn about reality. He is the epitomy of brain waste and constituent taxpayer abuse. Nothing means what it does, listening to him.