Pentagon fails audit again while officials boast of 'progress'

The Department of Defense failed its seventh consecutive annual audit on Friday, revealing that it cannot fully account for its over $824 billion budget.

The nation's largest government agency has been required to run yearly audits since the 1990s but only began doing so in 2018. The Pentagon has failed every single one of these reviews, which are carried out by independent auditors and the department's Office of Inspector General.

'I have zero tolerance for fraud, waste, and abuse.'

The DOD's leadership has fully anticipated its repeated audit failures, stating that the agency aims to pass for the first time by 2028, as required by the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.

This year's audit resulted in a disclaimer of opinion, meaning the agency failed to provide auditors with sufficient information to form an accurate opinion.

Of the DOD's 28 reporting entities, nine received an unmodified opinion, one received a qualified opinion, 15 received disclaimers, and three opinions remain pending, according to the agency.

Despite the Pentagon's repeated failures, Michael McCord, under secretary of defense comptroller and chief financial officer, claimed that the agency "has turned a corner in its understanding of the depth and breadth of its challenges."

"Momentum is on our side, and throughout the Department there is strong commitment — and belief in our ability — to achieve an unmodified audit opinion," he claimed.

McCord said that the DOD anticipated receiving a disclaimer of opinion but rejected the notion that the agency "failed" yet another annual audit.

"I do not say we failed, as I said, we have about half clean opinions. We have half that are not clean opinions," McCord told reporters on Friday. "So if someone had a report card that is half good and half not good, I don't know that you call the student or the report card a failure. We have a lot of work to do, but I think we're making progress."

McCord emphasized that to achieve a clean audit by 2028, the DOD must "make enormous progress," but he believes the goal is within reach.

"Is 2028 achievable? I believe so," he stated. "But we do have to keep getting faster and keep getting better."

In response to the latest audit results, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated, "While we have made real 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 responsible stewardship of taxpayer funds, both central to our mission to defend our country."

"I have zero tolerance for fraud, waste, and abuse — in the Pentagon or elsewhere in the Department," Austin continued. "The Department is grateful to Congress for supporting our mission and strengthening America's defense. Yet, there is still much more to do. We must account for every taxpayer dollar and present a clean financial bill of health to the American people."

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