Last week, the nation’s largest government agency, the Pentagon, failed its seventh consecutive audit due to its inability to fully account for its trillion-dollar-plus budget.
The DoD is made up of 28 entities that operate under the Pentagon and the following are the specifics of their audit results:
Michael McCord, under-secretary of defense comptroller and chief financial officer, pledged in his statement that the DoD "is firmly committed and is taking actions to achieve an unmodified audit opinion on its financial statements by December 31, 2028."
You read that correctly: the deadline is the end of 2028.
The DoD, under defense secretary Lloyd J. Austin, has been under the scanner for quite some time due to its inability to provide accurate and transparent financial reports. Early this year, Austin himself was under fire for concealing his cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment from the White House and the general public. Obviously, accountability and transparency are not part of the Pentagon culture.
Congress approves the funding annually via spending bill, in FY 2024, the DOD received $1.99 Trillion. One trillion is equal to 1000 billion, hence out of the $1990 Billion $824 billion has melted into thin air.
Let's look at the bigger picture. The national debt is $36 trillion, and the interest on the debt is $995 billion. The debt per taxpayer is roughly $272, 821.
We now focus on the process of funding. A 'spending bill' is hurried through Congress usually without any debate -- most lawmakers vote for the bill without comprehending its contents. The bill is purposefully long and complicated and hence indecipherable to both lawmakers who vote for it and citizens who fund it. Somewhere hidden in the document is the trillion-dollar funding for the DoD.
The threat of a government shutdown and inducement from special interests causes swift voting in Congress and soon the President is compelled to sign the bill.
At times voting for this spending bill is contrary to the claims the lawmaker makes during election campaigns. But this hypocrisy goes unnoticed because few care to verify the voting behavior of their representatives.
Usually, a group of disparate items are bunched together in a spending bill, e.g. funding for border security and green energy are in the same bill. This gives a GOP lawmaker the excuse that he voted for border security and had no option but to allow funding for green energy. But the impact is billions wasted on green energy initiatives, which is a victory for the Democrats against whom the public voted.
These instances of wasteful spending are seldom covered by the media.
The media is usually focused on the drama in D.C. i.e. insults, outrageous claims, and theatrics either on TV or social media or during hearings.
These utterances keep the public busy and emotionally charged.
The emotional involvement over the utterances keeps the public from focusing on the real outrage -- the reckless funding and spending that occurs in government agencies.
Consequently, the public remembers the exact words uttered by the politician they despise, but does not remember that $1.99 Trillion in funding for the DoD this year. Hence it doesn't influence their vote. Perhaps this drama is a purposeful ploy of distraction.
Earlier this month, the public voted to return the White House, the House, and the Senate to the GOP. But apart from the heads of the governmental agencies whom the President appoints, nothing changes. Irrespective of who is been elected, the permanent bureaucracy remains the same.
Citizens are aware of who they elected on a national, state, and local level. But their vote has no impact on middle-tier operatives within government agencies who wield real power from within the shadows and continue to push their agenda that runs contrary to the public mandate.
It is not just the waste that is an outrage. We have instances, particularly under the Biden administration, when tax-funded governmental agencies baselessly target the public merely for having dissenting views. Biden's FBI baselessly targeted pro-lifers and conducted a raid on President Trump's Florida residence. Public-funded government agencies that were meant to be apolitical watchdogs became lapdogs for the Democrats in D.C.
It is also outrageous that most of the public who funds these agencies with their tax dollars struggle due to inflation and high fuel prices. This isn't dissimilar to the circumstances in France before the revolution when the ruling class imposed heavy taxes on the already struggling poor to fund their excesses.
Like the ruling class in France, these agencies are not accustomed to being accountable.
The Pentagon became legally obligated to audits recently under President Trump in 2018 but has never passed one and there have been no consequences. This missing $824 billion at the Pentagon isn't an anomaly but a norm -- similar or larger amounts are likely unaccounted for in other government agencies.
Is there any solution to this?
Firstly, the process of funding needs to be fixed. The practice of massive omnibus spending bills must be abandoned. Instead of grouping all kinds of spending, there needs to be specific bills for specific purposes. The name of the bill should reflect its contents, for instance, a defense bill focuses only on defense, and must not contain funding for building a zoo in Madagascar.
The bill must be released at least four weeks before the vote in Congress.
The bill must be easily comprehensible, this will enable citizens to be engaged in the process and engage with their representatives. It will also allow time for robust debate within Congress.
The bill must mandate audits at government agencies for every quarter and the outcome of audits must be available to the public.
There must be consequences for failing to comply with standards or missing funds, not just meaningless pledges to comply in the future
On organizational levels, there must be term limits for bureaucrats, after which they are transferred to another section.
Public officials must be prevented from joining private entities where there could be a conflict of interest. E.g., if the official has approved a multi-million-dollar government contract for a firm, he or his family members should not be allowed to be employed at the same firm.
Gratuitous government agencies or gratuitous sections within necessary agencies must be dismantled.
Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could lead this change.
Do not for a moment think that the swamp dwellers of D.C. are unaware that these common-sense efficiency measures will improve the functioning of government. They just don't care. Members of these multi-trillion-dollar-funded agencies no longer see themselves as public servants but rather as rulers while citizens are seen as subjects. They know they can target citizens without any consequences. The goal is not to serve but to acquire power and pecuniary gains.
The draining of this swamp is hence essential not just to save public funds but also the public from being targeted.
It will be the fulfillment of Trump's promise in 2017 of returning power back to the people.
Image: DoD
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