Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Pentagon kills off HR IT project after 780% budget overrun, years of delays
The Register ^ | March 24, 2025 | Brandon Vigliarolo

Posted on 03/26/2025 8:34:57 AM PDT by cgbg

After blowing deadlines and budgets for years, the Pentagon has finally pulled the plug on a troubled project to overhaul its outdated civilian HR IT systems.

Like many government projects before it, the US Defense Civilian Human Resources Management System (DCHRMS) promised big things when it was kicked off nearly a decade ago.

According to a memo [PDF] signed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth late last week, the program was intended to streamline a large portion of the DoD's legacy HR IT systems, but it's being axed after officials concluded pouring more funds into it would be "throwing more good taxpayer money after bad."

DCHRMS started in 2018 with a planned development timeline of one year and a budget of $36 million, "but instead it's taken eight years and is currently $280 million over budget - that's 780 percent over budget," Hegseth said in a video announcing the DCHRMS and other spending cuts. "We're not doing that anymore."

(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: budget; dod; hesgeth; pentagon
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-45 next last
Interesting article discusses other budget cuts as well.

Congrats to Hesgeth.

1 posted on 03/26/2025 8:34:57 AM PDT by cgbg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: cgbg

I miss the days of filing cabinets and ringed binders.


2 posted on 03/26/2025 8:39:40 AM PDT by Resolute Conservative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cgbg

“that’s 780 percent over budget”

Those are California’s Train to nowhere type numbers. What are Greaseball Newsomes thoughts? FULL STEAM AHEAD!


3 posted on 03/26/2025 8:41:39 AM PDT by DAC21 (")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cgbg

COBOL...once you are in in, good luck trying to get out....


4 posted on 03/26/2025 8:50:20 AM PDT by stylin19a ( If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: stylin19a

When you get into the spaghetti code in COBOL, it’s tough to figure out the logical processing.


5 posted on 03/26/2025 8:57:34 AM PDT by DownInFlames (P)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: cgbg

I’m kinda curious if anyone knows. If a project is canceled like this is there any work product for all that money or is the money just gone?


6 posted on 03/26/2025 8:59:29 AM PDT by rottweiller_inc (Lupus urbem intravit. Fulminis ictu vultures super turrem exanimat. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cgbg

Why civilians anyway?

Except for Civilian Defense Sec, no one who is not subject to UCMJ belongs in that building.


7 posted on 03/26/2025 9:02:00 AM PDT by bakeneko
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rottweiller_inc

It is kinda like building a house on a faulty foundation—with no insurance and a broke general contractor.

It is a total loss.


8 posted on 03/26/2025 9:02:33 AM PDT by cgbg (It was not us. It was them--all along.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: rottweiller_inc

It’s gone.

It’s always rosey projections by the salesmen that the managerial staff fall for. They need to always get a couple working grade peeps involved at kickoff. They can always tell if something is going to work as presented or if it’s a huge load of bull manure.

Seen it so many times when I was in DOD.


9 posted on 03/26/2025 9:02:55 AM PDT by John Milner (Marching for Peace is like breathing for food.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: John Milner

Wow. That sucks. Hard to believe there’s nothing to show for so much money.


10 posted on 03/26/2025 9:05:02 AM PDT by rottweiller_inc (Lupus urbem intravit. Fulminis ictu vultures super turrem exanimat. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: bakeneko

This is not just about a building—the Pentagon is just the Headquarters for worldwide Department of Defense operations.

https://www.dodciviliancareers.com/whyworkfordod

There are currently 950,000 civilians—lots of room for cuts.


11 posted on 03/26/2025 9:05:07 AM PDT by cgbg (It was not us. It was them--all along.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: DownInFlames

When you get into the spaghetti code in COBOL, it’s tough to figure out the logical processing.”

That’s because sometimes there wasn’t any. I did a lot of BASIC and it could do pretty much anything but you could have hundreds of lines of gibberish and it would still run fine with a simple GOTO statement.


12 posted on 03/26/2025 9:06:01 AM PDT by gibsonguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Resolute Conservative
Same here. When I mention the word "ledger" to my kids they all give me a puzzled look which was to say "what's that?"

🤣🤣🤣

13 posted on 03/26/2025 9:11:04 AM PDT by ducttape45 (Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: rottweiller_inc

I was on a civilian project @ Aetna many years ago...by the time i got on the project, they were already 2 years into a conversion.

I was there when they pulled the plug and adiosed us...product was useless, so...money gone.

I’m guessing same here.


14 posted on 03/26/2025 9:21:13 AM PDT by stylin19a ( If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: stylin19a

It’s like selling someone a dream and if you delay until they give up it’s free money.


15 posted on 03/26/2025 9:30:36 AM PDT by rottweiller_inc (Lupus urbem intravit. Fulminis ictu vultures super turrem exanimat. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: cgbg

This might be the original: https://insights.govforum.io/2020/11/press-release-leidos-awarded-contract-to-support-the-office-of-the-under-secretary-of-defense-for-personnel-and-readiness/

Obviously changed up since then!


16 posted on 03/26/2025 9:31:05 AM PDT by No.6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cgbg; Liz

After blowing deadlines and budgets for years, the Pentagon has finally pulled the plug on a troubled project to overhaul its outdated civilian HR IT systems.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

where is imran awan when you really need him?


17 posted on 03/26/2025 9:33:56 AM PDT by thinden (Buckle up …..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: thinden

heh.......whatever happened to that bunch?


18 posted on 03/26/2025 9:39:43 AM PDT by Liz (This then is how we should pray...."Our Father, who art in heaven......")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: cgbg

So many government IT contractors corruptly, intentionally fail to deliver anything on time, knowing the stupid bureacrats would rather keep paying the cost overruns than find a differnent contractor.

Also, many of the contracts try to wholesale reinvent entire large systems, when, if broken down logically, they can often be updated to newer systems in stages.


19 posted on 03/26/2025 10:06:17 AM PDT by Wuli
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cgbg

Who’s the contractor? Are they booted from federal contracts for a decade? Was this all legal, and thus a likely crooked failure on the part of their procurement group, potentially subject to prosecution—or illegal on the part of the contractor, subject to prosecution?


20 posted on 03/26/2025 10:08:40 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-45 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson