The Pentagon has failed its seventh annual audit in a row, failing to fully account for its $824 billion budget for the past year. But as per American Military News, the Pentagon has claimed that it has made progress and is moving toward finally passing the audit in the next few years.
The Department of Defense (DOD) posted an official statement about its seventh audit on November 15 on its website. Without using the word “failing,” the DOD titled its statement “Department of Defense Completes Seventh Consecutive Department-Wide Financial Statement Audit” and declared that of the 28 reporting entities undergoing standalone financial statement audits, 15 received disclaimers of opinion.
In auditing lingo, as explained by the financial education site WallStreetMojo, a disclaimer of opinion means that auditors could not confidently verify the truth of a company’s financial statements. The site adds:
“For a company, disclaimers can prove catastrophic. An audit disclaimer of opinion harms a company’s reputation and goodwill.”
Of the 28 audited entities, only 9 received unmodified audit opinions, which indicate a clean audit.
But despite half of the audited entities receiving such a disclaimer, the DOD statement on its latest audit patted the department on its back and claimed that it has “turned a corner.”
The non-profit NationofChange published an article by Alexis Sterling on November 19 to draw attention to the need for immediate action to reform the Pentagon. The article wrote:
Reforming the Pentagon requires immediate action to impose accountability and ensure taxpayer funds are used effectively. Proposals to penalize failed audits, increase oversight of contractors, and enforce stricter financial controls must be prioritized by lawmakers.
Sterling also commented that despite failing every independent audit since 2018, the Pentagon has been funded by the Congress with trillions of dollars, which raises questions about lawmakers’ commitment to accountability.
On his show, satirist and political commentator Jimmy Dore mocked the audit failure by the DOD and showed a video clip of Biden’s Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks denying that failing an audit implies waste, fraud, and abuse in the department.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/gJQa5HB567c
Conservative Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama disagreed with this denial of Hicks and called it a total waste as he commented on the audit on Laura Ingraham’s show on Fox News. Tuberville said the incoming Trump administration needs to “stink bomb” the Pentagon to cleanse it of the bureaucrats and useless employees including the many four-star generals.
