North Texas News

Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D., a Republican from Texas and Chairman of the Rules Committee, recently expressed his concerns about the Pentagon's financial accountability in an op-ed published by the Dallas Morning News. He highlighted that for the seventh consecutive year, the Department of Defense (DOD) has failed to pass an audit, leaving $824 billion unaccounted for.

Burgess emphasized that government accountability is crucial, especially when it comes to managing taxpayer dollars. He noted that despite Congress passing the Chief Financial Officers Act in 1990, which mandates federal departments to produce auditable financial statements, it took until 2017 for the DOD to undergo its first audit under President Donald Trump.

During a briefing on November 15, DOD Comptroller Mike McCord mentioned that while not all results were favorable, "about half" of their opinions were clean. He stated: “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,” as reported by Fox News.

Burgess argued that if Congress had enforced its legislation sooner, the Pentagon would have met these requirements by now. He pointed out that achieving only 50% success is insufficient and stressed the importance of maintaining accurate records of military spending.

He has been advocating for legislative measures such as the Audit the Pentagon Act, which proposes a reduction in DOD discretionary budget authority if a clean audit is not achieved. However, this legislation has yet to be enacted.

In response to ongoing issues with financial oversight at the DOD, Congress included a mandate in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024 requiring a clean audit by 2028. Burgess urged his fellow legislators to prioritize this issue and ensure effective management of defense funds before he leaves office.