Defense &
National Security
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Defense &
National Security
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Sanders, Grassley reintroduce bill fining Pentagon for any audit failures |
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) reintroduced their bipartisan bill on Thursday that would impose financial fines on the Pentagon if the department fails to pass a full, independent audit.
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The senators’ legislation, called the Audit the Pentagon Act, stipulates that if any component of the Pentagon does not pass a clean audit, it would have 2 percent of its budget withheld and would be sent over to the Treasury Department to slash the national deficit.
“The Pentagon has been plagued by a massive amount of waste, fraud and financial mismanagement for decades. Year after year, the Pentagon fails an audit, and year after year, Congress hands it another blank check,” Sanders said in a statement. “At a moment when the administration has dragged us into an unconstitutional war with Iran and is demanding the largest military budget in our history to pay for it, the Pentagon still cannot tell us where trillions of dollars have gone.”
The bill was first introduced in 2021 and was reintroduced again in 2023 during the Biden administration.
The legislation is co-sponsored by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
The Pentagon failed its eighth audit in a row late last year.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said earlier this year that the department is on track to pass a clean audit in 2028.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have pushed the Pentagon to account for all of its financial statements.
Earlier this month, the House of Representatives adopted Rep. Andy Biggs’s (R-Ariz.) amendment to the annual National Defense Authorization Act that would shave off 0.5 percent of the Pentagon budget if any of the department failed an audit.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Filip Timotija — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.
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How policy will affect defense and national security now and in
the future:
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The Army has awarded Lockheed Martin a seven-year contract worth up to $58.6 billion to churn out Patriot interceptor missiles in an effort to replenish quickly diminishing U.S. munitions stockpiles. The deal, announced Wednesday, converts a previous one-year contract worth $4.7 billion awarded to Lockheed in April. The alteration means the U.S. military can receive a steady stream of Patriot interceptors through 2032, according …
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Financial markets are uneasy as President Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh face rising inflation risks driven by the war in Iran. Stocks and bond yields have whipsawed amid uncertainty over how the Fed will tackle higher energy prices and their impact on the broader economy. The stock market took heavy losses and bond yields spiked shortly after the Fed declined to hike interest rates Wednesday, only …
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Iran on Thursday threatened to “punish” the United States following a “heavy wave of strikes” against Tehran overnight in retaliation against missile attacks on American forces in the Middle East. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it “will punish the aggressor today,” extending the threat to Gulf nations helping Washington in the conflict, saying such countries would “receive a harsh response,” according to Iranian state …
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Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a resolution directing President Trump to withdraw U.S. troops from hostilities with Iran, despite growing GOP discomfort over the expansion of the war and the impact it’s having on energy prices. The Senate voted 49-50 to defeat a resolution to discharge a measure out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee directing Trump to halt hostilities against Iran unless they are approved by …
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Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
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Democrats demand answers 6 months after ICE pledge on body cameras
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Democratic lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee hammered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for failing to deliver on a pledge to equip its officers with body cameras amid a rash of deadly interactions with the public. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin …
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Events in and around the defense world:
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- The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies will hold a discussion tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET on "What Was the Founders' Design for National Security Beyond the Battlefield?"
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News we’ve flagged from other outlets:
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Two key stories on The Hill right now:
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The Department of Commerce quietly announced this week it will designate more than $870 million in federal incentives for semiconductor manufacturing … Read more
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Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) responded Wednesday to Sen. John Fetterman’s (D-Pa.) criticism of several progressive Democratic candidates he’s supporting … Read more
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Op-eds related to defense & national security submitted to The Hill:
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You’re all caught up. See you tomorrow!
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