Department of Defense We're screwed The seventh consecutive annual audit was conducted Friday, revealing a failure to fully account for a budget of more than $824 billion.
The country's largest government agency has been required to conduct annual audits since the 1990s, but only began doing so in 2018. The Department of Defense has failed all of these audits, conducted by independent auditors and the department's Office of Inspector General.
“I have zero tolerance for fraud, waste and abuse.”
Defense Department leaders have said they fully expect repeated audit failures and are aiming to pass their first audit by 2028, as required by the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.
This year's audit resulted in a waiver of opinion, meaning the agency failed to provide auditors with enough information to form an accurate opinion.
Of the 28 reporting agencies, nine received unmodified opinions, one received qualified opinions, 15 received disclaimers, and three have pending opinions, according to the Department of Defense.
Despite the Pentagon's repeated failures, Michael McCord, the assistant secretary of defense and chief financial officer, argued that the Pentagon has “turned a corner in understanding the depth and breadth of our challenges.” .
“Momentum is on our side and there is a strong commitment and belief in our ability to achieve unmodified audit opinions across the sector,” he asserted.
McCord said the Pentagon expected to receive a negative opinion, but rejected the idea that the Pentagon had “failed” another annual audit.
“I'm not saying we've failed. Like I said, about half of us have a clean opinion. The other half don't have a clean opinion,” McCord said. told reporters on friday. “So if someone's report card is half good and half bad, I don't understand calling that student or their report card a failure. We have a lot of work to do, but I think we are making progress. “
McCord stressed that the Department of Defense will need to make “significant progress” to achieve clean audits by 2028, but believes the goal is within reach.
“Is 2028 achievable? I believe so,” he said. “But we need to keep getting faster and keep getting better.”
In response to the latest audit results, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said: said“Although we have made great progress in our annual audit, there are several areas where we need to work harder and achieve better results. I am deeply committed to transparency and the responsible management of taxpayer funds. Both are central to our mission to protect our country.” ”
“I have zero tolerance for fraud, waste, or abuse at the Department of Defense or anywhere else in the department,” Austin continued. “The Department of Defense is grateful to Congress for supporting our mission and strengthening America's defense. But there is still much work to do. We will make every taxpayer dollar accountable and We must present a sound fiscal bill to the American people.”
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