House Oversight Committee Opens Investigation Into DOD 5th Consecutive Failed Audit

After the Division of Protection (DOD) failed its fifth consecutive audit in November, Home Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee on Authorities Operations and the Federal Workforce Chairman Pete Classes (R-Texas) are wanting into the DOD’s failure to stop waste, fraud, and abuse.

The Republican congressmen wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asking for a staff-level briefing to be taught extra in regards to the DOD’s failed audit, common monetary administration processes, and what the division is doing to hold out excellent strategies for reform.

The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the Division of Protection’s (DOD) failure to stop waste, fraud, and abuse. In November 2022, DOD failed its fifth straight audit as a result of it was unable to account for 61% of its $3.5 trillion value of property. The 2 Republican legislators wrote in response to a latest report by the U.S. Authorities Accountability Workplace (GAO) that the Protection Division (DOD) “continues to fail to appropriately account for lots of of billions of {dollars} in government-provided property within the fingers of contractors. Though it receives virtually a trillion {dollars} a yr, the DOD’s incapability to appropriately observe property places our army readiness in danger and exhibits a flagrant disdain for taxpayer cash.

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Pentagon Fails Fifth Consecutive Audit

The Pentagon’s comptroller and prime monetary officer, Mike McCord, introduced the findings of the division’s fifth annual audit to reporters again in November 2022.

“We didn’t get an ‘A’,” he stated. “The method is essential for us to finish, and it’s serving to us to enhance. We aren’t therapeutic as rapidly as we’d need because of it.

BREAKING: Pentagon Admits It Cannot Account For $2.2 TRILLION – AGAIN.
Of The 27 Companies Audited Inside The @DeptofDefense, ONLY Seven Obtained A Passing Grade! https://t.co/GipVRRecRO

— John Basham 🇺🇲 (@JohnBasham) November 30, 2022

The Monetary Audit of the Protection Division covers greater than $7 trillion in property, resembling actual property and army gear, and liabilities, resembling authorized claims and base realignment or closure prices. It’s a compilation of 27 investigations throughout the enterprise, together with particular person businesses and army departments.

For protection leaders and taxpayers, the audit’s goal is to make clear how the division spends its funds and to maintain observe of its property, which unfold over all 50 states, Washington, D.C., seven territories, and 40 nations.

Though it isn’t the one choice for DOD to watch expenditure and uncover waste, fraud, and abuse, acquiring a transparent monetary audit opinion for every part might enhance taxpayer and repair member confidence.

In keeping with the report, 16 of the 27 standalone audits decided to have a number of areas for enchancment, whereas seven of the 27 had unmodified views, which means auditors discovered their monetary statements to fulfill with typically accepted accounting requirements.

READ MORE: Pentagon Admits It Can’t Account for $2 Trillion – AGAIN

DoD a Fixed Fixture on GAO Excessive-Threat Checklist

GAO’s Excessive-Threat Checklist has routinely featured DOD’s contractor administration and monetary administration.

In keeping with a GAO report from January 2023, DOD didn’t adequately account for a major quantity of government-owned property given to contractors, together with weapons, instruments, and different defense-related objects.

In 2014, the DOD estimated that contractors had $220 billion value of government-provided property of their custody, however the GAO thinks the quantity is “severely overstated.”

The acquisition of DOD weapon techniques, the modernization of enterprise techniques, and general monetary monitoring have all obtained many suggestions from GAO.

“Critical questions in regards to the Division of Protection’s administration of taxpayer funds have been raised, significantly because the Division of Protection’s price range approaches the thirteen-figure mark as a result of DOD’s poor monetary administration and incapability to adequately observe weapons, gear, and different protection articles. The shortcoming of DOD to create auditable monetary statements that will enable for correct monitoring of DOD’s monetary administration processes has been hampered by failure to resolve these issues,” in response to each Republican congressmen.

US Home Committee on Oversight and Accountability is opening a probe into the Protection Division’s incapability to go their annual full-financial audit.https://t.co/TiOV1KMlD7

— A2B Monitoring (@A2BTracking) March 7, 2023

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