Last week, the nation’s largest government agency, the Pentagon, failed its seventh consecutive audit due to its inability to fully account for its trillion-dollar-plus budget.
The DoD is made up of 28 entities that operate under the Pentagon and the following are the specifics of their audit results:
- Nine entities received an unmodified audit opinion i.e. financial statements are accurate and comply with financial reporting standards,
- One entity received a qualified opinion, i.e. the auditor expresses some reservations about a company’s financial statements,
- Fifteen received disclaimers. i.e. auditors weren’t provided sufficient information to form an accurate opinion of the accounts.
- Three entities have their opinions still pending.
Michael McCord, under-secretary of defense comptroller and chief financial officer, pledged in his statement that the DoD “is firmly committed and is taking actions to achieve an unmodified audit opinion on its financial statements by December 31, 2028.”
You read that correctly: the deadline is the end of 2028.
The DoD, under defense secretary Lloyd J. Austin, has been under the scanner for quite some time due to its inability to provide accurate and transparent financial reports. Early this year, Austin himself was under fire for concealing his cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment from the White House and the general public. Obviously, accountability and transparency are not part of the Pentagon culture.
Congress approves the funding annually via spending bill, in FY 2024, the DOD received $1.99 Trillion. One trillion is equal to 1000 billion, hence out of the $1990 Billion $824 billion has melted into thin air.
Let’s look at the bigger picture. The national debt is $36 trillion, and the interest on the debt is $995 billion. The debt per taxpayer is roughly $272, 821.
We now focus on the process of funding. A ‘spending bill’ is hurried through Congress usually without any debate — most lawmakers vote for the bill without comprehending its contents. The bill is purposefully long and complicated and hence indecipherable to both lawmakers who vote for it and citizens who fund it. Somewhere hidden in the document is the trillion-dollar funding for the DoD.
The threat of a government shutdown and inducement from special interests causes swift voting in Congress and soon the President is compelled to sign the bill.
At times voting for this spending bill is contrary to the claims the lawmaker makes during election campaigns. But this hypocrisy goes unnoticed because few care to verify the voting behavior of their representatives.
targeted pro-lifers and conducted a raid on President Trump’s Florida residence. Public-funded government agencies that were meant to be apolitical watchdogs became lapdogs for the Democrats in D.C.
It is also outrageous that most of the public who funds these agencies with their tax dollars struggle due to inflation and high fuel prices. This isn’t dissimilar to the circumstances in France before the revolution when the ruling class imposed heavy taxes on the already struggling poor to fund their excesses.
Like the ruling class in France, these agencies are not accustomed to being accountable.
The Pentagon became legally obligated to audits recently under President Trump in 2018 but has never passed one and there have been no consequences.
Once upon a time, tracking financial transactions was difficult because they were manual and paper-based. But in this era of digital transactions, one information report reveals the spending right to the last cent.
The disappearance of such an astronomical sum hence seems deliberate. The transactions may have been cash-based to avoid scrutiny. If that seems unlikely, we must recall the Obama administration paid $1.7 billion in cash to Iran, a lot of the funds may have ended up back in D.C.
This missing $824 billion at the Pentagon isn’t an anomaly but a norm — similar or larger amounts are likely unaccounted for in other government agencies.
Is there any solution to this?
Firstly, the process of funding needs to be fixed. The practice of massive omnibus spending bills must be abandoned. Instead of grouping all kinds of spending, there needs to be specific bills for specific purposes. The name of the bill should reflect its contents, for instance, a defense bill focuses only on defense, and must not contain funding for building a zoo in Madagascar.
The bill must be released at least four weeks before the vote in Congress.
The bill must be easily comprehensible, this will enable citizens to be engaged in the process and engage with their representatives. It will also allow time for robust debate within Congress.
The bill must mandate audits at government agencies for every quarter and the outcome of audits must be available to the public.
There must be consequences for failing to comply with standards or missing funds, not just meaningless pledges to comply in the future
On organizational levels, there must be term limits for bureaucrats, after which they are transferred to another section.
Public officials must be prevented from joining private entities where there could be a conflict of interest. E.g., if the official has approved a multi-million-dollar government contract for a firm, he or his family members should not be allowed to be employed at the same firm.
Gratuitous government agencies or gratuitous sections within necessary agencies must be dismantled.
Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could lead this change.
Do not for a moment think that the swamp dwellers of D.C. are unaware that these common-sense efficiency measures will improve the functioning of government. They just don’t care. Members of these multi-trillion-dollar-funded agencies no longer see themselves as public servants but rather as rulers while citizens are seen as subjects. They know they can target citizens without any consequences. The goal is not to serve but to acquire power and pecuniary gains.
The draining of this swamp is hence essential not just to save public funds but also the public from being targeted.
It will be the fulfillment of Trump’s promise in 2017 of returning power back to the people.
Image: DoD
