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S. 5349Senate119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

DEPOTS Act

Sponsored by John CornynSen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
Introduced August 6, 2026

AI-Generated Summary

Updated August 13, 2026 at 3:02 AM UTC

The DEPOTS Act lets the Secretary of Defense cancel internal accounting charges—such as remaining depreciation or internal debt—related to Department of Defense depots and arsenals when those assets no longer produce revenue because of mission changes. The write‑offs must be handled so that any cash already spent from a revolving fund is recovered, and the rule only applies to internal DoD accounts, not to money owed to private contractors.

Key Provisions

  • The Secretary of Defense may eliminate internal depreciation costs or internal debts for depots and arsenals whose capital assets no longer generate revenue due to mission realignments.
  • Any write‑off must be structured to recover previous cash outlays from the relevant revolving fund.
  • The authority applies only to balances within military department or DoD accounts and does not affect payments to commercial contractors.
  • The Secretary of Defense may delegate this write‑off authority to the secretaries of the individual military departments.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action
SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Armed Services Committee

August 6, 2026

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

August 6, 2026

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

Armed Services Committee

August 6, 2026

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued August 6, 2026

II

119th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 5349

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.

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.

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.