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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.
Summary
- Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to write off internal Department accounting charges, including depreciation and internal debt, associated with capital assets at military depots and arsenals that no longer generate revenue due to mission changes
- Requires write-offs to be done in a manner that ensures any previous cash outlays from revolving funds are recovered
- Limits the authority to apply only to financial balances within Department of Defense accounts, not to payments owed to commercial contractors
- Allows the Secretary of Defense to delegate this write-off authority to the Secretaries of military departments
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] (R-TX)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to John Cornyn’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- CAPITAL GROUP $22,500
- ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ $16,500
- PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES $13,686
- WINKLEVOSS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT $13,200
- BLACKSTONE $12,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for John Cornyn → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Aug 6, 2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. · senate
- Aug 6, 2026 Introduced in Senate
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 6, 2026
Mr. Cornyn introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services
A BILL
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Defense Expenditure Planning for Optimizing Throughput and Sustainment Act of 2026” 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. <all>
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