Warren questions Pentagon division’s conflicts, private investments.

Senator Elizabeth Warren Raises Concerns About Potential Conflicts of Interest in the Department of Defense

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has recently expressed her concerns about potential conflicts of interest within certain parts of the Department of Defense (DOD). As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, she addressed these concerns in a letter to Heidi Shyu, the under secretary of defense for research and engineering at the DOD’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC).

In her letter, which can be found here, Senator Warren highlighted the lack of safeguards in place to prevent conflicts of interest. She expressed her worries about the potential coziness between the DOD and private investment firms, suggesting that this could lead to conflicts of interest.

The OSC, established in 2022, aims to collaborate with other government departments and agencies to develop investment strategies for critical technologies. However, Senator Warren pointed out instances where the office seemed to be too closely aligned with private investment firms, raising concerns about favoritism and lack of independence.

One specific incident that worried Senator Warren was the OSC’s involvement in encouraging government intervention during a run on Silicon Valley Bank. This intervention was seen by experts as favoring certain companies affected by the bank’s failure. Additionally, the senator highlighted the ties between consultants hired by the OSC and private firms, questioning their independence and the authenticity of their work.

These consultants, designated as special government employees, are subject to some ethics laws applicable to federal employees. However, ethics watchdogs have expressed concerns about the challenges of preventing conflicts, given the consultants’ access to nonpublic political intelligence information.

Warren’s Requests for Transparency

To address these concerns, Senator Warren requested information from Ms. Shyu regarding the DOD’s policy for reviewing and assessing potential conflicts. She also asked whether any special government employees at the OSC were required to recuse themselves from specific matters that could affect their outside employers, clients, or investments.

In addition, the senator requested details about the companies that reached out to the OSC concerning the collapse of S