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An estimated 26% of purchases the Department of Defense (DOD) reported as supporting its COVID-19 response went to unrelated items, according to an Inspector General report released on Thursday.Former President Donald Trump’s March 2020 memo in response to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak gave DOD program officials the ability to increase the limit on government charge cards between $10,000 and $35,000, according to the report. Cardholders used the increased limit to make unrelated purchases on items from shipping to food and sometimes failed to produce receipts or get the required approvals before making a purchase“It is critically important to track execution...

The Pentagon said Thursday that its message to Iran — who is funding proxy attacks against U.S. forces and military and commercial ships in the Middle East — is that the United States does not seek a regional conflict. Asked by a reporter at a press briefing what the Pentagon’s message to Iran is, Deputy Defense Press Secretary Sabrina Singh responded: I think our message has been very clear from the beginning. We know Iran funds, supports, equips, trains these groups, the very groups that you just listed out in places throughout — whether it be Iraq and Syria, in...

When it was first reported on Saturday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been in the hospital since January 1, it was natural to assume that key figures in the Pentagon and the White House, for whatever reason, chose to keep his hospitalization a secret. What possible motive could there be for doing this? Who knows? It didn't make a lot of sense, but the Biden administration has an extensive record of covering up scandals, so it wasn't exactly out of character for the Biden administration to cover something up. The truth that has been coming out over the course...

More than $1 billion worth of U.S. missiles, drones and other weapons and equipment sent to Ukraine have not been properly tracked by officials, according to a Pentagon report released Thursday. Of a total of $1.69 billion worth of items that require additional layers of tracking and monitoring thanks to their sensitive military technology, a little more than $1 billion — or nearly 60 percent — are not fully accounted for, the report found. The Defense Department’s inspector general did not say if any such weapons had been misused or diverted after being shipped to Ukraine because “it was beyond...

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is one of the most reclusive Pentagon chiefs in recent memory. That’s creating a major problem for him now. Austin’s failure to inform his most senior advisers, congressional leaders and even President Joe Biden of his hospitalization last week due to complications from a medical procedure has erupted into a controversy that’s left senior White House and Pentagon officials infuriated and befuddled. Some Republicans quickly called for investigations or even for Austin to be disciplined or fired. Advertisement Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown was not informed of Austin’s situation until Tuesday, the day after his...

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin has been hospitalized since the first day of 2024, and while Pentagon officials have not said when he will be released, they continue to avoid saying why he went to the hospital in the first place. Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last Monday, for what Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder described as complications from an elective medical procedure. On Sunday, Ryder told Fox News that Austin had an elective medical procedure at Walter Reed on Dec. 22, 2023. Austin was on leave at the time of...

<p>Concerns about the high cost of countering the threat posed by the Yemeni armed forces in the Red Sea are growing in the Pentagon, according to US defense officials who spoke with Politico.</p><p>Sanaa has reportedly fired at least 100 drones toward Israeli-linked commercial vessels for the past month in support of the Palestinian people. US estimates place the cost of the domestic-made drones at $2,000 each.</p>

The Pentagon's two-year Replicator program to develop a stockpile of drones has its skeptics in the private sector, mostly because of the lack of direct funding for it. "It's just very disorganized and confusing," a tech company executive told Politico, because it is "not actually associated with any dollars to make things happen." The program intends to help the U.S. catch up with China on autonomous weapons and technology. "For the first time ever from a military hardware perspective, we are five to seven years behind our near-peer adversaries in a critical kinetic piece of technology," a former defense official...

A group of Republican lawmakers are attempting to stop the Pentagon from taking out a Confederate monument belonging to Arlington National Cemetery.Led by Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), the group of lawmakers penned a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday that demands he leaves the Reconciliation Monument, also known as the Confederate Memorial untouched until at least the conclusion of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process.The monument was set to be taken out by the Pentagon’s Naming Commission, a group formed to rename and remove military installations named after the Confederacy. This came in the wake of the 2020...

U.S. defense leaders fawned over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday during his visit to the Pentagon’s National Defense University (NDU), as he pitched for more U.S. taxpayer aid to Ukraine. NDU President Air Force Lt. Gen. Michael Todd Plehn, praised Zelensky, calling it “indeed a high honor” to welcome Zelensky to the university. “It is fitting that today’s address takes place at NDU, where we prepare the next cohort of national security leaders to understand and overcome current and future national security challenges in defense of our freedom and way of life,” he said.

New data from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) provides further evidence that the COVID-19 shots carry significant health risks, including multiple heart issues.Lieutenant Ted Macie is an active-duty officer with the U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps who serves as a health administrator and medical recruiter. His wife Mara Macie is running for Congress in Florida’s Fifth District. Both have been speaking out against the Pentagon’s COVID jab mandate and its treatment of service members who objected.In a video uploaded to social media, Lt. Macie cited a July letter from U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness Gilbert Cisneros...

The Pentagon blocked members of President Joe Biden’s incoming administration from gaining access to critical information about current operations, including the troop drawdown in Afghanistan, upcoming special operations missions in Africa and the Covid-19 vaccine distribution program, according to new details provided by transition and defense officials.The effort to obstruct the Biden team, led by senior White House appointees at the Pentagon, is unprecedented in modern presidential transitions and will hobble the new administration on key national security matters as it takes over positions in the Defense Department on Wednesday, the officials said.Biden openly decried the treatment his aides were...

WASHINGTON — North Korea claimed Tuesday its recently launched reconnaissance satellite had snapped photos of the White House, Pentagon, and key US military installations across the world — though questions remain about the technology’s capabilities. Dictator Kim Jong Un has personally reviewed the images, which were captured late Monday, Pyongyang’s Korea Central News Agency propaganda service claimed. “[Kim] also received in detail satellite photos of the Norfolk Naval Station, the Newport News Dockyard, and an airfield of Virginia,” KCNA reported.

The Pentagon has just failed its sixth audit in as many years.In early October, it was reported that the Pentagon was crying broke to Congress, now this.Considering that the world is on fire under Biden, now would be a good time to have our Defense Department in order, but no such luck.The Department of Defense (DOD) failed its sixth straight audit with little positive change from the year prior, despite pledges from Pentagon leaders to make improvements on the massive undertaking each year.Auditors gave seven of the department’s 29 sub-agencies a clean audit in 2023, with no change from the...

Here on the right side of the American political spectrum, we're used to railing against "the government." I've done plenty of it in speeches and in writing over the years. Most of the time, I will refer to "the bureaucracy" when I am making a point about how awful the government is. Bureaucracy is, after all, what clogs the arteries of the federal government. What frustrates those of us who have to function in the real world about the federal bureaucracy is the utter lack of accountability. While the rest of us have to do our jobs well if we...

The U.S. on Monday released a new $100 million aid package for Ukraine, announcing more artillery rounds and anti-aircraft munitions as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made a surprise visit to Kyiv. The package includes 155 millimeter artillery shells, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, small arms ammunition and Javelin and AT-4 launchers. DEFENSE US announces new Ukraine package as Pentagon chief visits Kyiv BY BRAD DRESS - 11/20/23 1:56 PM ET SHARE TWEET A soldier of the Ukraine’s National Guard 1st brigade Bureviy (Hurricane) ride an APC during combat training at a military training ground in the north of Ukraine Friday, Nov. 3,...

For the sixth year in a row, the Department of Defense (DOD) has failed a self-audit of 29 standalone entities controlling $3.8 trillion in assets and responsible for $4 trillion in liabilities. Seven of the 29 audited entities achieved a passing score. The Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Care Fund received a "qualified opinion" indicting auditor found "misstatements" (if you do this when talking to an FBI agent you go to prison) that allegedly did not change the bottom line. Three audits are still in progress. The remaining 18 failed, including money sumps like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and National...

Federal law since the early 1990s requires mandatory audits for all government agencies. The Pentagon didn’t begin auditing itself until 2018 and has only had incremental improvement yearly. This time around, 1,600 auditors combed through DOD’s $3.8 trillion in assets and $4 trillion in liabilities, conducting some 700 site visits. They found that half of DOD’s assets can’t be accounted for.

You may recall a stunning report from September that looked into an infrequently discussed Pentagon group known as the Iran Experts Initiative. In it, we learned about one of Joe Biden’s Iranian “experts” who was probably far too much of an expert in this field. Ariane Tabatabai is an Iranian-born aide and chief of staff to a Pentagon Assistant Secretary of Defense. She initially worked alongside the now-suspended Robert Malley on Biden’s efforts to restart Obama’s Iran nuclear deal. But the September report suggests she was working far more on behalf of the Iranian regime than our government. Still, she...

A Department of Defense spokesman explained Washington’s current goals in the Middle East. Since Israel launched a massive military operation in Gaza, the US has deployed thousands of troops and a large host of naval ships to the region. According to a press release outlining Gen. Pat Ryder’s statement, the Pentagon’s four priorities for the Middle East currently are: “Protection of US forces and citizens in the region.”“Flow of critical security assistance to Israel as it defends against further Hamas terrorist attacks.” “Coordination with the Israelis to help secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, to include American citizens.”“Strengthening...