With this predictable result, the Pentagon remains the only U.S. federal agency yet to pass an independent, department-wide audit, as required by law, Jake Johnson reports.
Department of War plaque newly installed on the River Entrance in front of the Pentagon in November. (DoW / Madelyn Keech)
By Jake Johnson
Common Dreams
CN at 30
Two days after the U.S. Senate voted on a bipartisan basis to authorize just over $900 billion in military spending for the coming fiscal year, the chief recipient of that taxpayer money — the Department of Defense — announced it failed an audit of its books for the eighth consecutive year.
The now-predictable audit result was announced Friday by the Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) after an examination of the agency’s roughly $4.6 trillion in assets. The OIG said it identified 26 “material weaknesses” — major flaws in internal controls over financial reports — in the Pentagon’s accounting.
Auditors also uncovered “five instances of noncompliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements,” OIG said.
The Military Times reported that “among the shortcomings were omissions in the Joint Strike Fighter Program, the Pentagon’s multifaceted effort to develop an affordable strike aircraft for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and allied nations.”
“Auditors determined the Pentagon failed to report assets in the program’s Global Spares Pool, and did not accurately record the property,” the outlet noted.
Jules W. Hurst III, the Pentagon’s chief financial officer, said in response to the findings that the department is “committed to resolving its critical issues and achieving an unmodified audit opinion by 2028.”
The Pentagon remains the only U.S. federal agency that has yet to pass an independent, department-wide audit, as required by law. But its repeated failures to return a clean audit haven’t deterred Congress from adding to its coffers each year.
With the passage of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which President Donald Trump signed into law last week, Congress has backed over $1 trillion in military spending this year.
“Congress cannot continue funneling hundreds of billions of dollars to a completely unaccountable agency while American families can’t afford food or healthcare,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who voted against the NDAA.
Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.
This article is from Common Dreams.
Views expressed in this article and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
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“But its repeated failures to return a clean audit haven’t deterred Congress from adding to its coffers each year.” The unstated implication is that the Pentagon does not depend on Congressional allocations. “Failed audit” means it effectively doesn’t HAVE a budget; it just spends whatever it wants to, and the Treasury writes the checks.
Incidentally, this offers direct proof of “Modern Monetary Theory,” which observes that the federal government, given its ability to print money, does not depend on taxes; those serve mainly to adjust the money supply. It “prints” the money it needs, these days mostly in digital form and via bank activity. That’s a relatively new situation; the implications are still being worked out, Pentagon first.
All that besides the obvious: “failed audit” generally means somebody is stealing; in this case, on a monumental scale.
A real audit might reveal the corruption everyone wants to hide.
And yet, the powers-that-be are going to start garnishing the wages of hard pressed student loan debtors! Many who were never able to buy a house or have kids bc they made the stupid decision at 17, 18 years old to try and better themselves.
Drew,
It is bad , agreed .
Mom & Pop can’t help with little health insurance or not much stash .
I was jokingly serious when I told my wife to let me die in my bed .
I am unsure how long my insurance will last .
Feb. may be the last .
I hope my courage is not misdirected in hopes of leaving something for my family .
A home will pay for one serious sickness ?, a very steep price for some .
Then what ?