The Government Accountability Office has recommended the Defense Department provide Congress with information that will support the Pentagon’s claim on why the DoD cannot achieve budget neutrality.A GAO report published Wednesday includes ideas for the development of a strategy to attain alternative reductions to appropriations as well as the identification of specific metrics for customer satisfaction, product quality and savings.
DoD said in a May 2016 report on commissaries and exchanges that the department cannot achieve budget neutrality but the report did not cover cost assumptions, estimates or other specific details on trade-offs or limitations that prevent budget neutrality.
GAO noted that DoD officials have projected the department to save $2 billion from fiscal years 2017 to 2021 but no strategies have been developed to help meet the estimated cost savings.
Auditor also found out that the DoD did not establish specific metrics to assess the three mandated benchmarks discussed on the report including customer satisfaction, product quality and patron savings.
