[Cheerio]

The numbers still don’t add up. The article says that DHS ordered 750 million rounds, and uses 15 million rounds per year in training. That’s a fifty year supply. Why?

If the Government were purchasing a 50 year supply they are breaking the law. They are restricted to using the current appropriation to fund the current year's need, and the Contracting Officer issuing the contract knows darn well the requirement of the Bona Fide Needs rule. Turn him in and file a Qui Tam law suit.

The Bona Fide Needs Rule is one of the fundamental principles of federal appropriations law. Simply stated, a "fiscal year appropriation may be obligated only to meet a legitimate, or bona fide, need arising in, or in some cases arising prior to, but continuing to exist in, the fiscal year for which the appropriation was made." (The underlying statute is 31 U.S.C. § 1502(a), sometimes called the "bona fide needs statute").

The bona fide need rule, found at 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1502 (1988), precludes an agency from obligating, without express statutory authority, an appropriation made for a specified period for the needs of subsequent periods. Generally this is for Multi Year contracting but would not be valid for purchasing Commercial Items, but rather for the procurement of Government only items like F-22 aircraft where Congress is required to appropriate funds for the possibility of termination costs should subsequent Congresses refuse to continue the program.

Purchasing more than ONE year's worth of goods or supplied is forbidden by the law.

[OneWingedShark]

The bona fide need rule, found at 31 U.S.C. Sec. 1502 (1988), precludes an agency from obligating, without express statutory authority, an appropriation made for a specified period for the needs of subsequent periods. [...]

Purchasing more than ONE year's worth of goods or supplied is forbidden by the law.

Well then that leaves two possibilities: either they are breaking the law, or they have plans to use them all this year.
And since we know the government would never break the law *cough* Fast & Furious *cough*, then we know it must be that they will use the ammunition this year.