With the administration asking for a record-breaking defense budget of $1.5 trillion, members of Congress are skeptical that the Department of Defense (DOD) will be able to disclose full financial transparency and adequate management of its funds.
A Government Operations subcommittee hearing on Wednesday urged leaders in U.S. federal defense to help the DOD produce a “clean” audit for the fiscal year of 2028, meaning an independent auditor has confirmed its financial statements are accurate.
Congress requires this of every federal agency, but the DOD is the only agency that has never obtained an audit despite being in charge of nearly half of the federal government’s discretionary spending.
In an interview with Texas Politics, subcommittee Chairman and Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX) said the American people understand the importance of having a military that can defend itself, and not being able to produce an annual financial audit sends a certain message.
“They heard again yesterday how the military cannot pass an audit,” Rep. Sessions said. “The inference here should be for our military leaders, and for people, to question, ‘How do they know what supplies they have? How are they prepared?’”
Asif Khan, the financial director at the Government Accountability Office, said when a department can’t produce an audit, this usually means it has “weak internal controls” that increase fraud risk and the mis-allocation of funds.
“Risk management is something to be watched carefully and managed when additional money is being given to the department,” Khan said.
However, more money is just what the administration is asking for.
In March, Secretary Pete Hegseth asked for $200 billion in supplemental funding for the ongoing war in Iran, while President Donald Trump proposed a $1.5 trillion defense budget for the next fiscal year.
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-FL) said this proves that the DOD is “unwilling or unable” to provide Congress with “truthful” information.
“I have a crazy idea, no more blank checks for an agency that is not able to pass a clean audit after years of failed audits, waste and reckless spending,” Rep. Frost said.
Frost said continuing to give the department a “blank check” only fuels the incentive to evade transparency on its spending.
Rep. Sessions added that closing this gap in communication between military leadership and Congress is crucial moving forward.
“When somebody is here in the Pentagon and looking at a database, it needs to match the reality,” he said.
