In a troubling development for the nation’s defense operations, the Pentagon has announced that it has failed its seventh consecutive audit.
On Friday, officials revealed they could not fully account for their staggering $824 billion budget, raising concerns about financial transparency within the Department of Defense (DoD).
The audit outcome resulted in a disclaimer of opinion from the auditors, indicating that they were provided with insufficient information to form an accurate assessment of the DoD’s financial accounts, reported Fox News.
Despite these audit challenges, Pentagon officials express optimism about the future. They believe the Department of Defense “has turned a corner” in understanding its budgetary issues, suggesting that improvements in financial management may be on the horizon.
Here is more of the story from Fox News:
But with the goal of achieving a clean audit by 2028, Michael McCord, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer, said the agency “has turned a corner in its understanding of the depth and breadth of its challenges.”
The agency’s goal of earning an unmodified audit opinion by the end of 2028 is mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images, File)
“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 said in a statement.
The objective of earning an unmodified audit opinion is mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act.
McCord told reporters at a briefing on Friday that he would not say that the agency “failed” as it had “about half 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,” he said.
Independent public accountants and the DoD Office of Inspector General closely examined the financial statements for the audit.
McCord emphasized in a statement that the path to a clean audit is clear.