BOSTON — Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is leading a rare bipartisan effort in Congress to authorize the military to repair its own weapons and machinery, arguing the “common sense” move would save taxpayers’ money and improve readiness.
The Warrior Right to Repair Act of 2025, filed Tuesday by Warren and Sen. Tim Sheehy, a Montana Republican, would require contractors to provide the Department of Defense with access to technical data and materials the military needs to repair and maintain its own equipment.
“It’s common sense for members of our military to be able to fix their own weapons,” Warren, a Cambridge Democrat, said in a statement. “It’s about time we stood up to Pentagon contractors that are squeezing every last cent from us at the expense of our national security.”
Warren said the Defense Department spends hundreds of billions of dollars a year on government contracts for weapons, equipment and vehicles. But intellectual property constraints often prevent the Pentagon from repairing its equipment, she said, forcing it to rely on the original contractors to make the repairs.
The bipartisan proposal — a rarity in bitterly divided Washington, D.C. — would mandate that contractors provide “fair and reasonable access” to materials and information needed for repairs. It would also require the Defense Department to conduct a review to determine if they can incorporate right-to-repair provisions in current contracts.
The effort has its roots in other “right-to-repair” movements aimed at giving consumers and independent repair businesses the freedom to repair products they own, like automobiles, smart phones, computers and other electronic gadgets. In 2020, Massachusetts voters approved a right-to-repair law focused on vehicles.
But the push to allow military to fix its own equipment has won support from top brass in Washington, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who issued guidance in April expressing support for allowing the Army to have “right-to-repair” provisions in current and future defense contracts.
Navy Secretary John Phelan told senators during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in June he backs the “right to repair” effort, saying sailors should be able to repair the hardware they are trained to operate without having to wait for contractors to do the work.
“We end up paying for a lot of things that we don’t control, and we need to change that,” he said in remarks. “It is crazy. We should be able to fix this.”
Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll told the Armed Services Committee in April he is already asking military contractors to include a right-to-repair option in their agreements.
“On a go-forward basis, we have been directed to not sign any contracts that don’t give us a ‘right to repair,'” Driscoll told senators. “On a go-back basis, we have been directed to go and do what we can to go get that ‘right to repair.'”
A recent report by the Government Accountability Office outlined millions of dollars of waste in the military from the restrictions, detailing incidents where Marines were forced to send engines needing repair back to contractors in the U.S., adding to federal government’s costs and time to complete the repairs.
In January, Warren wrote to Elon Musk – who was then overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency – urging him to address repair restrictions on U.S. military equipment as a way to reduce Pentagon spending. It’s not clear whether DOGE took any action on Warren’s request.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.