Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan its January 2017 Porker of the Month for defending the undeniably wasteful F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.

The F-35 program has been beset with a myriad of problems that are emblematic of the Pentagon’s profligate procurement practices. The original estimate for the program in 2001 was $233 billion for 2,457 aircraft. Since then, the costs have ballooned to more than $400 billion.

As CAGW has long documented, JSF has experienced, “persistent software delays, a lack of communication with other aircraft, issues with the pilot’s helmet resulting in poor rearward visibility and night vision capability, and a gun that will not shoot for at least two more years.” In 2015, Defense Department officials told the Government Accountability Office that the lifetime cost of the F-35 program would be $1 trillion. The program has also caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who tweeted on December 12, 2016 that, “The F-35 program and cost is out of control.”

As the F-35’s numerous issues persist and public outrage grows, the man in charge of the program for the last four years seems to live in an alternate universe. On December 19, 2016, the Executive Director of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, flatly stated, “This program is not out of control.” That baffling assertion was followed by an equally surreal admission that the project would require an additional $532 million in 2017 alone.

CAGW President Tom Schatz said: “The F-35 program is already the most expensive weapons program in American history and symbolizes failed Pentagon procurement practices that result in wasted taxpayer dollars. Lt. Gen. Bogdan seems all too happy to defend this broken system. Wasteful Pentagon spending not only offends taxpayers, it represents dollars that are not being spent on America’s critical national defense needs.”

For defending a massive Pentagon boondoggle, CAGW names Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan its January 2017 Porker of the Month.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.