A bipartisan group of Senate lawmakers has introduced a bill that would require the Department of Defense to pass a clean audit in fiscal year 2024.
The Audit the Pentagon Act of 2023 mandates that any DOD agency that fails to conduct a clean audit return 1 percent of its budget to the Department of the Treasury for deficit reduction, the office of Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced Monday.
“If the Department of Defense cannot conduct a clean audit, as required by law, Congress should impose tough financial consequences to hold the Pentagon accountable for mismanaging taxpayer money,” Wyden said.
“We can’t effectively rein in wasteful defense spending without a full and complete audit of the Pentagon,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.
The legislation is also backed by Sens Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.; Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; Mike Braun, R-Ind.; Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Ed Markey, D-Mass.; and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.
In May, Wyden, Sanders, Grassley, Warren and Braun sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to conduct an investigation into alleged overpricing by some U.S. defense contractors.
The request followed a report from CBS News that found that DOD’s fixed-price contracts would often generate 12 to 15 percent for private profits.
