The Pentagon has failed its annual audit for the sixth year in a row, according to the Defense Department\u2019s chief financial officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Out of 29 individual sub-audits of the department, only seven passed this year, the same as the year prior, Comptroller Mike McCord told reporters Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One other received a \u201cqualified\u201d rating \u2014 a step down from passing \u2014 while three are ongoing and 18 were given failing grades, with no fraud found, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All sub-audits are required to pass for the overall audit to be approved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCord said that while \u201cthings are showing progress,\u201d overall \u201cit\u2019s not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin \u201cfeels we need to be doing better at this and moving faster,\u201d but a successful audit is still years away, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Federal law since the early 1990s requires mandatory audits for all government agencies. The Pentagon didn\u2019t begin auditing itself until 2018 and has only had incremental improvement yearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This time around, 1,600 auditors combed through DOD\u2019s $3.8 trillion in assets and $4 trillion in liabilities, conducting some 700 site visits. They found that half of DOD\u2019s assets can\u2019t be accounted for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The auditing process is difficult for the Pentagon due to the sheer size and scope of the department. The Department of Defense makes up for more than half of the U.S. discretionary spending and its assets range vastly, covering personnel, supplies, bases and weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McCord last year admitted that each audit \u201cis getting a little harder\u201d due to \u201cmuch of the lower hanging fruit having been picked,\u201d meaning simpler issues have already been fixed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lawmakers have taken note of the trend of failed audits, and earlier this year a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation to ensure DOD passes a clean audit next year. The bill follows repeated concerns from Congress about fraud, waste and abuse in the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked Thursday whether the failed audit sends a bad message to U.S. adversaries and allies alike, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said the effort is \u201ca continuing and ongoing process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile it wasn\u2019t the results that we wanted, we certainly are learning each time an audit passes,\u201d she told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n