Government efficiency
Defense contractor uses tax dollars to lobby for more tax dollars
If only they were as careful with our money as they are with their own: Defense contractor Lockheed Martin sought an extension of its lucrative federal contract managing the Sandia National Laboratories, and it lobbied for the renewal using money originally paid to do research at Sandia.
This sort of double dipping is illegal under federal lobbying law, and the Energy Department's inspector general labeled the contractor's actions "highly problematic" and "impermissible."
Nevertheless, Lockheed got the renewed Sandia contract for $7.7 billion over two years.