August 6, 2026
Mr. Cloud introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
To authorize the Secretary of Defense to eliminate any internal Department of Defense depreciated costs or cancel any internal Department debts associated with depots and arsenal from accounts of a military department or the Department that are associated with certain capital expenditures that no longer generate revenue due to mission changes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Defense Expenditure Planning for Optimizing Throughput and Sustainment Act
or the DEPOTS Act
.
Sec. 2. Capital expenditure write-offs for Department of Defense depots and arsenals
(a) Write-Offs
(1) In general
With respect to any depot or arsenal of the Department of Defense, the Secretary of Defense may write-off or eliminate any internal Department accounting charges, such as remaining depreciation or internal debt from an account of a military department or the Department associated with capital assets that do not generate revenue due to mission realignments directed by the Federal Government.
(2) Recovery of outlays
Write-offs under paragraph (1) shall be done in a manner than ensures any previous cash outlay from a revolving fund is recovered.
(3) Application of authority
The authority under paragraph (1) applies only to financial balances within the accounts of a military department or the Department of Defense, not to payments owed to commercial contractors.
(b) Delegation
The Secretary may delegate the authority under subsection (a) to the Secretary of a military department.