The Hill: Pentagon puts Trump’s cost cutting promises to work

President Trump's vow to save billions on military purchases is taking hold at the Pentagon, spurring officials to pursue new cost-saving measures in their dealings with defense companies.

One such measure, announced just last week, is a "deep dive" into the F-35 costs at Lockheed Martin and the "20-25 major subsystems that are underneath it," according to the Defense Department's pricing director, Shay Assad.

"I believe President Trump was right on the money when he initially said, look, this Joint Strike Fighter [program] is just too expensive, we've got to get the cost down," said Assad, a Pentagon official involved in negotiations on nearly every major defense system contract….

Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas), whose district includes the Fort Worth factory where F-35s are assembled, said it is of "paramount importance that the Pentagon assess potential cost-saving measures on major, multi-year programs such as the F-35" and that pricing changes within the supply chain be closely monitored.