Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Pentagon Flunks Seventh Straight Audit, Can't Fully Account for $824 Billion Budget
Red State ^ | 11/17/2024 | Mike Miller

Posted on 11/17/2024 7:09:06 PM PST by SeekAndFind

As RedState reported on November 12, President-elect Donald Trump announced that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will lead his newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

Trump said at the time:

These two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies - Essential to the 'Save America' movement.

If there's a better example of the urgent need for the Department of Government Efficiency -- headed by Musk and Ramaswamy, no less -- than the one that follows the below link, I'm unaware of what it is.


READ MORE:

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy Appointed to Lead the 'Department of Government Efficiency'


It was reported on Friday that the Pentagon, the nation's largest government agency, failed its seventh audit in a row, still unable to fully account for its more than $824 billion budget. Worry not, suggested Pentagon officials, who stressed that they're making "good progress" toward a clean audit in 2028.

Two thousand twenty-eight? Something tells me that in the minds of Elon and Vivek, more than four years isn't good enough.

According to reports, the Department of Defense -- led by often-under-fire Secretary Lloyd Austin --technically earned a disclaimer of opinion, meaning it failed to provide sufficient information to auditors to form an accurate opinion. 

First question: Why? I'll venture a guess that the answer is because sufficient information was nowhere to be found, which raises the second question: Why not?

The goal is to earn a clean audit, which means an audit finds financial statements are accurate and a qualified opinion says that while there are omissions and concerns, a government agency's finances are '"generally reliable."

In this case, we're talking about more than 824 billion taxpayer dollars. I suspect that Musk and Ramaswamy will be concerned about more than accurate financials, which of course are a must, but even more importantly, the size of the Pentagon's budget and eliminating wasteful and unnecessary spending trumps all. (Pun intended)

Still, Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller and Chief Financial Officer Michael McCord said in a statement that despite the disclaimer of opinion, the Defense Department “has turned a corner in its understanding of the depth and breadth of its challenges.”

This is the last time in this article I'll mention Elon and Vivek, but I bet "turning the corner" isn't good enough, either -- particularly for another four years.

McCord continued:

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

And at a Friday briefing with reporters, McCord said:

I do not say we failed, as I said, we have about half clean opinions. We have half that are not clean opinions. 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.

Hmm. We're not talking about a student's report card here, bud. We're talking about close to a trillion dollars and the defense and security of the United States of America.


ALSO READ:

President-Elect Trump Names Rep. Mike Waltz as National Security Adviser

Pentagon Generals Freak Out, Scramble to Hide Evidence of DEI Advocacy

Trump Preparing Executive Order to Cull the Military of Woke Generals and Admirals


Incidentally, the Pentagon has never passed an audit since the agency became legally obligated to conduct them in 2018. 

Without mentioning names, as I suggested earlier, I have a feeling that the Defense Department will be held fully accountable for both its expenditures and its initiatives long before 2028.

I think I'll just leave it here, for now.



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; Society
KEYWORDS: audit; budget; defense; military; pentagon
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-45 next last

1 posted on 11/17/2024 7:09:06 PM PST by SeekAndFind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Okay. The Pentagon is not going to need 824 Billion Dollars. We can cut that from the budget.


2 posted on 11/17/2024 7:10:58 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

It all went for worthless Woke lesson books. Be sure to trace and burn that crap, it would kill sewage bacteria. As for the authors, well, death would far too kind to them but welcome by those with brains.


3 posted on 11/17/2024 7:16:18 PM PST by Da Coyote (H)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

cut that from their budget and see how fast they find it to fill the hole...


4 posted on 11/17/2024 7:16:41 PM PST by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Clean effing house, Trump.


5 posted on 11/17/2024 7:21:16 PM PST by SaxxonWoods (Black guy upon receiving a MAGA hat: "MURICA!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Its only money. We can always print more


6 posted on 11/17/2024 7:22:35 PM PST by PGR88
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PGR88

Check the bank accounts of some of the people that work there.


7 posted on 11/17/2024 7:27:53 PM PST by dandiegirl (BOBBY m)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
DUUUHHHHH?! NOT AGAIN???


8 posted on 11/17/2024 7:27:55 PM PST by Dick Bachert
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dandiegirl

Don’t blame Pete. He earned his scratch.


9 posted on 11/17/2024 7:29:51 PM PST by Kudsman (Hey,, Democrat,,leave them kids alone!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

This is so easy to fix. Cut the budget on everything that doesn’t have a verifiable need. No slush funds.


10 posted on 11/17/2024 7:37:18 PM PST by Salvavida (NS)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican
The Pentagon is not going to need 824 Billion Dollars. We can cut that from the budget.

The way I read the article that IS the budget. They can't account for part of that. Could be $1 could be $823.9B. Piss poor reporting doesn't tell us.

11 posted on 11/17/2024 7:38:25 PM PST by pfflier
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: PGR88

Republicans talking about cutting the defense budget? What the he’ll is going on. Better hold on to your girdles teachers. MAZING.


12 posted on 11/17/2024 7:40:02 PM PST by Kudsman (Hey,, Democrat,,leave them kids alone!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

The do not have a functioning colsolidated accounting system.

What they do have are a hundred disparate little sytems patched over and around each other since before punchcards and ink wells.

It has all never been reconciled because it is humanly impossible to do so.


13 posted on 11/17/2024 7:46:21 PM PST by Lowell1775
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SaxxonWoods
Clean effing house, Trump.

Preach it, brother!
14 posted on 11/17/2024 7:53:25 PM PST by SpaceBar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about a lot of money...”


15 posted on 11/17/2024 7:58:53 PM PST by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversae! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

We have six branches of service.

Which branches are losing the money?

Find the departments in those branches that are losing the money.

Do a deeper audit of those departments.

Sounds like they aren’t really serious about finding the problem.


16 posted on 11/17/2024 8:00:34 PM PST by lurk (u)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
When was Social Security or Medicare audited? How about Medicaid, AFDC, TANF, SNAP, etc?

Why is it that we only ever hear about DoD?

Hmmm?

17 posted on 11/17/2024 8:00:58 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

HHS is close to a $2 Trillion budget. The Pentagon is peanuts. Nobody really knows where any money goes. It’s just “fungible”. The big problem are unfunded liabilities. Fedgov is a house of cards fiscally. Maybe DOGE will save us.


18 posted on 11/17/2024 8:01:07 PM PST by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
the Pentagon, the nation's largest government agency

False, and blatantly so. The Social Security Administration distributes over ONE TRILLION dollars every year ...

19 posted on 11/17/2024 8:02:23 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: pfflier
Piss poor reporting doesn't tell us.

Piss poor reporting is a deliberate attempt to deceive.

20 posted on 11/17/2024 8:03:50 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-45 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson