I would guess that DoD procurement rules have more to do with it than Congress, but perhaps Congress defined DoD procurement rules.

Milspec is expensive and process heavy, see what a B52 replacement trash can costs, for just one example.

DoD procurement rules are largely the outcome of Congress trying to prevent executive-industry corruption through mandated process.

	▲	dboreham 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		But aren't the politicians also corrupt? (or at least most of them) One therefore assumes that any action by congress must be corrupt. This appears borne out by the evidence over the past few decades.

If you think Milspec is expensive, you should see the cost of not having a Milspec supply chain while still being risk-averse.

	▲	throwaway27448 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		We could always be less risk averse. We still seem to kill civilians at high rates and our own soldiers signed up to die. Gold-plated weapons aren't much good against peer powers anyway; it's production volume that wins those wars.