Why The Pentagon Keeps Failing Its Audit

With a budget of over three quarters of a trillion dollars, the Pentagon has found that passing a sweeping audit is a tricky proposition. Antiquated systems, huge budgets, and the sheer size of the Department of Defense have made passing the congressionally mandated audit a towering endeavor, but one that experts say is doable in time.
The Pentagon has failed another audit this year. But with $770 billion expected to be budgeted for 2022, the Department of Defense says it is working on keeping track of all this money.
“It took the Department of Homeland Security a decade to pass its audit, and it’s a fraction of the size of the Defense Department,” said Mackenzie Eaglen, a senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute. “There is a bit out there that just because the department can’t pass the audit, it doesn’t know where it’s spending its money. And it does. But what it doesn’t do well is track it at an enterprise level.“
Since 1988 the budget has grown from over $634 billion in 2020 dollars to over $724 billion in 2020. But, the defense budget as a percentage of the total gross domestic product has actually dropped in the same period, from 5.7% to 3.5%, according to a Congressional Research Service analysis of Office of Management and Budget historical tables.
One example of an item found in the recent audit was a Navy warehouse that was not on the Navy’s property records and that housed aircraft parts worth $126 million, according to the Government Accountability Office.
“The financial system that you have in DOD right now is set up to control taxpayers’ dollars to guarantee that there is not going to be unauthorized use of it. So every dollar and cent is accounted for,” said Frederico Bartels, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. “And there, you can see that by the ADEA violations being extremely low at DOD, there are still some but that’s part of doing business, it’s still lower than most federal agencies.“
Old systems for tracking funds, a slow bureaucracy, and the sheer size of the U.S. Defense apparatus have kept audits from passing since they began in late 2017.
The size of the budget is constantly a subject of debate, but for lawmakers to make informed decisions they need good data.
“This is the Pentagon,” said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. “They’re responsible for the security of the United States. If, in fact, their audit systems are outdated, if ... they can’t do an audit and give us a picture of what they’re spending, I kind of worry about what they’re doing on the really important stuff.“
» Subscribe to CNBC: cnb.cx/Subscri...
» Subscribe to CNBC TV: cnb.cx/Subscri...
» Subscribe to CNBC Classic: cnb.cx/Subscri...
About CNBC: From 'Wall Street' to 'Main Street' to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.
Connect with CNBC News Online
Get the latest news: www.cnbc.com/
Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: cnb.cx/LinkedI...
Follow CNBC News on Facebook: cnb.cx/LikeCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Twitter: cnb.cx/FollowCNBC
Follow CNBC News on Instagram: cnb.cx/Instagr...
#CNBC
Why The Pentagon Keeps Failing Its Audit

[@lukek8357]

It's unreal to me that a government agency can't pass an audit when it's got so much money to account for. If a publicly traded company didn't have it's reporting audit documents available for shareholders then it would be in a lot of trouble very quickly. How can a department have trillions of dollars to defend a country and not have an accurate record of what its assets and what its spending.

[@ACasualCustomer]

It's called a money printing machine

[@chrisculhane3777]

Corruption plain and simple

[@davidjohnson8655]

Have you ever tried telling the American public that you spent 5 billion sponsoring terrorism and gang activity? Good luck finding the 10 billion they spent researching alien technology.

[@collateral7925]

They'll have to deal with the black and unregistered market and/or make transactions disappear. Or adjust paperwork to conceal details. I don't really see it as a surprise.

[@collateral7925]

@Dark Clouds Exactly, people just going to grab what they can in such an environment

[@tru5919]

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

[@mcr2356]

Department of defence is I believe the biggest employer in the US. This level of employment and manufacturing is a massive wealth generator.

[@solidstate2b]

The US military is failling to iterate or evolve effectively because it is being used as a defacto racialized wealth generator for elites to exploit.

[@pudanielson1]

@@solidstate2b It always has been since WW2

[@pudanielson1]

Dwight D Eisenhower, expanded the military industrial complex, and helped wage war across the world during the Cold War.

[@TheBooban]

@@mcr2356 exactly. Not much national manufacturing left. Or non immigrant jobs for that matter. And its all FREE! Why? Because the pay roll is taxed and goes back into govt. coffers. The Americans employed use that money in America paying other Americans for their services, which is also taxed. Unlike immigrants who send much of the money back to their countries. Almost all money spent in defense is free, as most of it eventually goes back to the govt. as taxes.

[@yutian5884]

Friend was in the military and did bookkeeping. $200 for "Walmart grade" toilet seats and $10 for low quality nuts and bolts were common. All military contractors need to be audited. They're inflating the prices and getting away with it just because they're "Defense contractors".

[@davelavigne2133]

It’s all specs and deliverables. The government approved those payouts. Don’t pass the responsibility.

[@mech-E]

@@davelavigne2133 it’s not that simple. And there is a lot of price gouging. To the point of insanity.

[@miltongee81]

The government is known for not being efficient, that’s why the more taxes go to the government, the less careful they are with other peoples money.

[@krisb-travel]

@@miltongee81 well if you were spending someone else money wouldnt you?

[@sadlfsdajklflsdjal]

When I was in the Army, we were paying $60.00 for just a single pen, not even a box it was priced per pen. The problem is they had a contract that we couldn't purchase from any other supplier but them.

[@dkpqzm]

The bigger question is; if the Pentagon can't pass an audit, why do we keep giving them billions of dollars?

[@St3v3NWL]

Stop giving solutions to the problem. We don't do that here.

[@BQENYCLIC]

@@xdrowssap4456 a lot of people ignoring the issues, without super military, us dollars, forcing world policy is gone.

[@ericyuan9718]

cLaSSifIEd nAtiOnAl sEcUriTy

[@SkywalkerPaul]

A hot mess, in a dumpster fire, in a trainwreck..

[@Hammerman365]

Bottom line you can't be a superpower without having a super military budget

[@ironyelegy]

good to know that the spending is as reckless as we thought

[@40ozofbri]

🎯🎯

[@princetandukar9290]

Depart of Defense: we dont have enough money, we need Billions of dollars more!! Also DOD: You cant expect us to track this much money...

[@SandileNtombela]

Question is how do they know that they need more money 💰 if they don't know how much they have spent and where they spent it 🤣😂🤣

[@antonioburke458]

@@SandileNtombela easy just keep spending blindly

[@ChrisGilliamOffGrid]

It's not just money, they have to list assets, and write off the consumables. It's complicated. The US military is not a dollar store.

[@ChrisGilliamOffGrid]

@Mohammed A Easy huh? 😂🤣 I'm a one man business and I don't think I could audit myself. It's impossible to keep up with every item and every dollar.

[@Spider-Too-Too]

remember last time back in sept.10th when their failed the audit?

[@Rem694u2]

Funny, if I fail an audit I go to jail. Why are they still giving these corrupt people billions?

[@NPAMike]

Because without the DOD spending billions the US can't throw its weight around as a superpower.

[@marklee780]

Billions for the fight against China. People believe it is the morally righteous cause, because almost all info voters have on China was from the establishment media's selective reporting and sometimes outright lies - ordinary people can't read the Chinese language anyway.

[@xzmrquanzx]

@@marklee780 when is the war?

[@Rocky12323]

I mean are you literally one of the biggest employers in America? No, be quiet

[@brianholloway6205]

If you fail an audit you do not go immediately go to jail. Why do you people come online and just lie

[@Chemist2013]

It’s crazy, we were looking up to the stars to try to observe black holes while the DOD was just right in front of us all that time!

[@sidv4615]

I’m not even an American but it really hurts seeing such a large amount of money being spent on defense. Did you guys know that NASA’s budget is about $20 Billion, might seem like a lot and yes it is. But it’s like peanuts when you consider the fact that the DoD spends that money in less than 2 weeks. NASA’s budget is less than the US Military’s budget for Air Conditioning.

[@SkywalkerPaul]

No military, no word domination. The US army is the most important tool for the United States of America..

[@Aceorbit]

@@SkywalkerPaul NFT pfp, opinion denied

[@Mo-hc9lc]

@@SkywalkerPaul nuclear bombs dont care what ur budget is

[@SkywalkerPaul]

@@Aceorbit NFT's are the future..

[@Rocky12323]

Do you know how big the DOD is, it’s gigantic. NASA is a toddler compared to the vast amounts of resources and jobs the DOD has. You’re comparing apples to oranges here.

[@giths19]

"Why the Pentagon keeps failing its Audit " Better question is "does the Pentagon even care for the audit knowing they'll get $700+ Billion/ blank cheque every year without push back? "

[@TheOak12345]

Lifetime politicians getting kickbacks is the problem. Old ways with no desire to change. Money talks.

[@phiksit]

All declared perfectly legal by lifetime judges who also probably get kickbacks and are treated like kings and queens.

[@franzzrilich9041]

True, there is corruption, but not much. The problem is several dozen bookkeeping systems, and the need to replace them, which is verrrrry costly. Also, DoD does not want a single vendor for its books, as it would make it easier for the Russians and Chinese to break into our record-keeping systems.

[@franzzrilich9041]

@Dark CloudsI had several jobs involving computer security, and we had people come in who could break into the systems. The red reams would short-circuit around the security protocols.

[@TheOak12345]

@@franzzrilich9041 What I don't like is when the military does not ask for "more planes" but certain Senators still allocate funding like Diane Feinstein and John McCain would fund projects no one needed. The Defense Industry is connected in every state which makes it hard to cancel projects. I remember the 1980s base closure list was a huge issue. So many bases and a lot were unknown but someone kept them open and touted jobs and economic ruin if closed, short term it happened but every area recovered.

[@TheOak12345]

@@phiksit Yes, I do not agree with lifetime judges either. Term limits across the board. We have term limits on governors and presidents the same should be for every other elected position.

[@TikiOperator]

"We've investigated ourselves and have come to the conclusion that we've done nothing wrong, continue your financial support and full cooperation without any further inquiries."

[@nickborcic8177]

Imagine having half a decade to clean up your books. Public companies would be de-listed from exchanges for this.

[@hippocleides7105]

Hard to create a system to audit something where a nontrivial amount is diverted to covert programs. Obfuscation of financial commitments is actually rather useful. If you're wanting to increase bang for buck, I'd suggest looking at defense lobbyists, who lobby not for desired capabilities but for their massive corporations to continue to produce weaponry which may or may not be relevant in the next war

[@maxoobbxxx8032]

@@hippocleides7105 "Covert programs" is just another word for money laundering, kickbacks, and corruption. There is no transparency, so it's safe to assume most of their budget is simply theft.

[@DudeGuyWho]

I've worked as an external BIG4 IPA, Federal FIAR Auditor and later executive FIAR Contractor. One major problem is financial managers have little pressure to get it right. I later lost a contracting job for reporting deliberate FAR violations that the offenders refused to cease.

[@Thebreakdownshow1]

That’s a shame that’s is tax money that goes missing. Especially when these numbers are coming from Feds monitoring feds I wonder what would the numbers look like if a private firm was auditing them.

[@weldmin4818]

Damn good question.

[@Thebreakdownshow1]

@@weldmin4818 lol as a KZbinr who makes a lot of content about policy power and finance I usually end up looking at this questions. This is similar to police policing them selves.

[@danycashking]

It honestly really depends, I think methodology might be the biggest difference, as much as we like to see the "government" as a single entity, it isn't monolithic, they may be policing themselves, but just like a cop from anchorage has no connection to a cop from manhattan, the ones carrying out the audit have no vested interest in covering the pentagon's assess. Plus as someone with experience in corporate audits, I can tell you a private firm running this size of an audit would probably charge a fee so astronomical it would equate whatever funds turn out to not be accounted for.

[@weldmin4818]

@@danycashking Its several trillion the Pentagon cant account for. The audit costs around $400 million.

[@xxxxMonkeyGirlxxxx]

@@Thebreakdownshow1 if a private firm was auditing them they would find nothing wrong either as long as they stay on the gravy train payroll. You forget there are banks privately audited who pay off the private firms that audit them.

[@yummymommy2275]

So they fail the audit, yet get more money? I fail an audit, the irs takes my money… Must be nice

[@bekicot88]

Simple answer : Corruption

[@noeflores5794]

Fairfax, Loudon, Montgomery counties are the wealthiest counties in the country. All neighboring D.C. Nothing but contractors live in those areas.

[@tanjoy0205]

Like me with spending drunk on Amazon Edit:We should probably get rid of “use it or lose it budgets”

[@weldmin4818]

Damn good suggestion.

[@j.camila3365]

Facts! I was forced to spend so much of what was left of the budget each year because the unit didn’t wanna lose the funding. It is honestly sickening

[@Steamrick]

"Use it or lose it" budgets are beyond stupid. All it does is create an incentive to spend more than you need just in case you need the extra next time.

[@tanith117]

@@Steamrick That and almost everything is spent In the last quarter

[@raleighrider8531]

So true we stock pile furniture at my work because of this we don't need because we have to spend money so everyone gets new desk chairs every year even if some of the chairs never got used

[@RyanKusuma]

You can’t audit the auditor just like you can’t police the police. Corruption doesn’t take responsibility for itself

[@wildfire9280]

But in this case they investigated themselves and *found* evidence of wrongdoing.

[@ytgeek8268]

If you have never served you can’t imagine the amount of wasted money in the military. It is truly incredible.

[@Agnelum1]

I would counter that many of us who have never served actually CAN imagine the amount of wasted money in the military. "Fat Leonard" isn't the first of his kind or some new phenomena...

[@ytgeek8268]

@@Agnelum1 ok. My Bad My Bad

[@IUKB08]

LOL! The Pentagon has strong, “Who gon’ check me boo”, energy.

[@jasonmelbaus9077]

If only more Americans took interest in what their government does, and hold it accountable. Oh wait, they are too busy dealing in Conspiracy Theories instead. The System works.

[@tapatbulldogginwithFerdinand]

Criminal Racketeering charges need to be brought up against our government and We all need a big ass check!!!!

[@j.camila3365]

I don’t know about all other branches, but the Army operates under GCSS-Army. It is such a complicated system, and I will go as far as to say that while it may not be entirely responsible for the hemorrhage of the budget, it does seem to be problematic. Enormous amounts of money are wrongly spent because those in charge of purchasing do not understand it.

[@joechang8696]

I recall in 07 that GCSS was severely behind schedule and over budget. The financial system was also late and over budget but was being deployed, thought it required pre-processing data because it couldn't do it on its own. Both were pre-HANA SAP? at the time? Any know what happened the Fund Controls system that operated in 07?

[@ricknelsonm]

They are lying stealing and cheating the public, it will improve once the public has had enough

[@Ye-tf9im]

Work in a military hospital you’ll be surprised how were understaff yet we have a huge budget and buy useless things like chairs etc when they should be hiring staffing instead. Wonder if the higher ups get a bonus or some for saving money at other people expense.

[@johnl.7754]

Because the government keeps giving them all that money.

[@JackieWelles]

Why wouldnt they fail? They keep getting their budget increased lol

[@poncedeoly469]

its estimated 20 billion would end homelessness in the US- the pentagon got an EXTRA 30 billion last year and they raised the budget this year nearly 100 billion. Eisenhower warned us of this clearly in his farewell speech. he also said earlier "for every navy ship we build we could have build schools and hospitals" China is building their nation not spending all their money on defense

[@FinancialShinanigan]

Think you can expand it to why the U.S. Government will also fail audits.

[@br2266]

Because obviously it’s paper trail would tell us it’s secretive classified assets. That’s bad.

[@jgcelliott1]

One word: Contractors. .

[@ivanpineda9551]

My father is a former military officer. He always said that war moves money around, not just in the USA, anywhere in the world. The DOD requires to keep funding the current and future wars (I do not know which one).

[@39FORTYWATER]

I like this info bring more. Transparency... With accountability.

[@tsriftsal2069]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pX7Riahjfr2Yg5I you'll love this one

[@mudshovel289]

What I don’t get is that they’re super particular about keeping accountability of property at the lower levels. Look we literally count brass that we pick up from every bullet fired in training (or do our best to pick up). Then DTS also seems incredibly strict because you have to account for every single expense of your travel card. I think at the lower levels they are frugal as hell.

[@royaltyblessed2454]

Agreed. At the tactical level (and sometimes operational) spending is often frugal but at the strategic level it definitely seems spending is very problematic

[@commonsense6489]

Veterans Affairs does not come out of the defense budget and VA gives so many soldiers the 3rd degree to get help. It’s a big old messy mess.

[@paulfreeman7719]

Very good summary on the audit issues for Defense Department. Keep on pushing for IT transparency and accountability. Taxpayers want this.

[@alastairhewitt380]

China has the most high speed rail at about 15,000 miles of track. Maglev is faster, quieter, and more environmentally friendly than HSR, but is criticised as being expensive to build at about $100 million dollars per mile. To build the same amount of Maglev rail as China's HSR would cost $1.5 trillion dollars or about 1/4 the cost of the wars we lost to farmers in Iraq & Afghanistan. The DoD debt financing stupid wars is precisely why we can't have nice things that would actually benefit the American people. They should at least be able to pass an audit telling us exactly how they are screwing us, but their budget should be slashed regardless.

[@garrylong2993]

China is a very bad example for this, since their high speed rail network has now been proven as a failure. They lose 24 million dollars a day, since their revenue isn't even enough to pay for the electricity bills. The entire project is 1.8 trillion in debt, a massive failure

[@samalenyo]

@@garrylong2993 Really, who says it's proving failure? I can't read any significant papers doing these other than some Republican backed think thank who are against of any similar Infra projects in US. Contrary to your popular belief, the higher the speed of HSR the more profitable it is in CHINA's case. 1. Huge infrastructure like HSR, typical ROI is at least 15 years. Most of HSR in CHINA have been built less than a decade ago. 2. Not all HSR routes in CHINA are losing money financially. In fact, many routes especially those connecting from east to central CHINA are now breaking even in terms of ticket sales. The most profitable HSR line in the world is the Beijing - Shanghai rail route. In fact because of its massive revenue which is even have higher revenue than Apple prompt its operator to file IPO in Shanghai Stock Market. 3.Public infrastructure like Railways should not be designed as profit driven but instead give benefit to the general public and provide a world class accessibility of transportation especially connecting to cities that can trasport billion of people. Can you imagine how much additional oil, cars and planes needed if CHINA doesn't have HSR alternative to transport billion of people especially during the CHINESE New Year, among the largest human migration? Case in point, even some of your private toll ways and express ways in US run in deficit and needed extra funding from state thru oil taxes and subsidies. The Amtrak is running almost to bankruptcy and even with massive subsidies by US govt cannot even compete its quality of rail and trains to that of CHINESE mid speed trains offer much less to CHINESE HSR which zooming an average of 350kph (217mph) 4. Which points to social benefit. According to some international transport group research. The additional benefit that is not counted in typical financial profit (e.g. ticket sales/fares, etc) outweighs the capital cost of building HSR already. These include the extra mobility and logistics of goods and services, time savings that can be instead put to productivity, spur tourism/businesses activity thus increasing of land value on areas near station or rural areas that is connected to HSR. Like airports, roads, ports, HSR are design for public use not for profit. The massive benefit like even convenience and time savings already enough to outweigh any cost to build this. Maybe you as american who see the world as for profit is alien to you the concept of social benefits but even your govt practices socialism already albeit for the rich only e.g. military industrial complex, QE and tax cut for wall street bankers and rich guys. Source: amp.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3034780/beijing-shanghai-high-speed-rail-operator-plans-stock-market www.statista.com/statistics/1218788/china-profitability-of-high-sped-railway-by-route/

[@garrylong2993]

@@samalenyo the hsr was built during the times of the recession, and at that time it was a great way to get the Chinese populace back to work, and a great way of giving out stimulus. However, the debt problem cannot be ignored. Yes, some of the lines between the higher population cities are in fact profitable, but they do not at all cover the cost of running the lines throughout China. 1.8 trillion is not a small sum, in fact that is larger than the entire GDP of Australia.

[@Rust_Rust_Rust]

@@garrylong2993 Yet the US was able to easily spend a trillion dollars on a stupid war. Don't even bother trying to refute his statements when you got destroyed by facts with cited sources.

[@abcdefgdude2843]

@@garrylong2993 They don't need to be profitable, theyre infrastructure. No interstates are profitable, yet they remain because being able to move people and goods efficiently generates the wealth needed to keep the roads. The profit from the rail isn't in fares but in the value created when people can move around easily

[@Rizky06]

💲trategic failure.

[@teoengchin]

The bigger question is why does mainstream media and congress allow them to get away with it?

[@IKEMENOsakaman]

Omg, Pentagon should be held accountable!!

[@jzy3224]

Worry about the CCP

[@adamantlyadam5201]

Reminds me of a meme I saw with the Farmers Insurance guy and it says: “Why don’t you trust the government?” Vets: “We know a thing or two, because we’ve seen a thing or two.” As a vet myself this report doesn’t surprise me one bit. Personally I think it will be difficult if not impossible to get full accountability of the Pentagon’s spending. But I do think it needs to happen.

[@joedavenport2477]

I'm the Fiscal Manager for a small local government agency. If we had a bad audit I would loose my job.

[@JALimpert]

The poor audio quality of the guest video segments are made harder to hear and understand by the music track. IMHO news does not need a music track.

[@mysticalwind4632]

Corruption, incompetence and malicious behavior

[@JW-cx8tg]

Is not about tracking the spend but also need audit the amount of spend for services to understand if the spend matches to what market rates are. In light of the Navy scandal, I'm shocked we are not putting in place more controls to ensure military officers do not get full control on these budgets. Like our country, individual departments also need checks and balances.

[@Alan-yt8vq]

Get rid of corrupt politicians?

[@justinkase5260]

The department is always in a state of war.

[@klimankhmeron7636]

Looking at the amount of the subdivisions, the pentagon can easily hide millions $$$ just by ordering the sleeve patches and shoulder straps for their high and mid ranking commanders.

[@justinfowler2857]

Because there's too much graft and corruption that has vested interest in keeping funds flowing.

[@Powderlover1]

$700 billion. That’s our money, not theirs, and they can’t tell us where it went.

[@2ferone86]

Yeah, passing that audit would cause a lot more problems than it would solve.

[@thetowerfantasymusic]

And they say they wanna cancel student debt... The money is being spent elsewhere !

[@seanthe100]

Military spending has nothing to do with loans people willingly take out.

[@Ryan-093]

@@seanthe100 you're advocating for the downfall of the US. Education is a direct investment in your future economy. "Military spending" is nothing more than a fancy way to enrich corporations like Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin.

[@tsriftsal2069]

sure but their is something wrong with saying that they need more budget for defense because china this russia that. when the goddamn us defense budget is already 3x bigger than chinas 15xbigger than russias

[@seanthe100]

@@tsriftsal2069 of course it's going to be more US GDP per Capita is $69k, China $12k, and Russia $10k. The US is a much richer country pay and benefits cost significantly more than in other countries.

[@seanthe100]

@@Ryan-093 how do you think American universities became the best universities on the planet? Military investment that's how. There's so many innovations that can be traced back to the military. Literally when American scientists wanted to figure out a way to send large amounts of data to one another, the Pentagon funded development of networks to do just that and this is how we developed the internet, the same one you're using right now. The internet was funded by investment from the Pentagon. Silicon valley the technology capital of the planet got it's start from the US Navy investing in silicon technology. Now you look all over the planet everyone is trying to develop their own "silicon valley" Japan, china, India, Saudi Arabia, and countless other nations.

[@bowez9]

Yet if the individual soldiers (quartermaster/supply sergeant) can be court marshaled these failures.

[@spartan114m]

Isn't this the literally definition of corruption?

[@bananapeeler8797]

I'm sick and tired of this MICIMATT complex.

[@Pyrrhic.]

I’m all for defense spending, but not wasteful spending. Save some dollars to pay our soldiers or buy new equipment, or r&d. I’m all for that.

[@abba3629]

Toilet Paper Holder= $750. Toilet Seat= $5000. That is Pentagon's Accountability.

[@heffe4257]

What’s the point of paying our taxes and making sure our books are taken care of if the government can’t? We allow this robbery.

[@gerrycastlemanwarde5933]

Follow the money if you can find it! How much of the budget ends up in political parties and politicians pockets! Do our citizens care? The answer is no!

[@porkyrabbit]

They just failed number 6

[@fironfiron8843]

Most people didn't watch the video or have no understand of federal accounting systems in place.

[@marem3038]

700 billion military budget and soldiers are not even paid enough.Look at all the homeless veterans in America.In my country I have never seen homeless veterans and our military budget is like 60 billion.

[@JustMe-xz2bz]

Redundant airframes, fixing everything which isn't broken, and on, and on...

[@flashbeaster]

after seeing all them branches, uncontrolled spending and 0 oversight. Its all done deal

[@Bellthorian]

It is interesting that on September 10th, 2001 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield gave a speech at the Pentagon where he cited the need for a unified computer network and a unified accounting system for the DOD. He said that the Pentagon had over 100 individual computer networks that did not talk to one another. They all used different accounting software and accounting standards. Add in the multiple layers of bureaucracy and the Pentagon could not track 50% of the daily transactions and 4.3 trillion dollars was unaccounted for. To account for that money expensive and time consuming audits would have to be done of each and every single department within the Pentagon. Having a unified network, purchasing, and accounting system would save the DOD BILLIONS of dollars every year and allow the DOD to be able to better manage its money and the public trust. The very next day the attacks on September 11th happened and the war on terror began. Rumsfield's dream of revamping the entire DOD would never be realized. Conspiracy theorists often use the 4.3 trillion in unaccounted for money as a so called smoking gun proving 9/11 was an inside job but they would be wrong like they always are. Over the next six years forensic accounting teams conducted audits and were able to account for more than 97% of the money but without any changes to how the DOD does business the problem just keeps reoccurring year after year.

[@NoInterleaving]

May I ask what is an Audit?

[@friedeswide]

I laughed at this harder than a Dave Chappell skit. DoD is probably more corrupt than the Saudi Royal family

[@bharatkaushal2518]

Because they don’t want to have an audit.

[@marem3038]

As someone pointed out nuclear bombs don’t care how much you spend on military.

[@insidecentral2799]

Homeless people all over the street in America 🇺🇸 I think it would be best to take that money 💴 spend to helping people who in difficult who lost thier jobs who need the government assistance

[@Rocky12323]

Yeah, no.

[@seanthe100]

Throwing money at the homeless will not fix homelessness. It literally ends up being the same process as the Pentagon. We'd have a video on why programs for homeless keep failing audits.

[@seanthe100]

@Mohammed A theres already Billions being allocated to the homeless in places like California, and it hasn't resulted in much. Now California has a $35 billion surplus.

[@nunyabidness3075]

A long time ago, wasn’t the Secretary of War personally responsible for military spending? I’m not saying we go back to that, but that was possible because he didn’t have hundreds of people with different agendas micro managing the spending. Also, there wasn’t a constant threat of budget reduction if someone found some savings. When our priorities get straightened out, and we buy the things we need for the military based on value and need rather than what county gets what jobs and what social engineering we can do, then the budget can get smaller and more accurate.

[@mikewilliams4089]

How is this even possible? Not a dime more until they can pass.

[@JoebsonOSRS]

Crazy how the pentagon continually cannot account for trillions in audits every year. Idk if it has to do with classified programs or what but thats insane

[@Black_Sun_Dark_Star]

Less interference in geopolitics in other countries will result in less need for military prowess, hence less spendings. USA should really concentrate that money for their own people and the aging infrastructures

[@WidgeonTV]

"aricraft parts"

[@alparslankorkmaz2964]

Nice video.

[@itsme6026]

They are probably still buying toilet seats for $69,000 a piece....

[@NitchBigga]

Oh great, here comes another airliner hitting the audit department 🙄

[@BloodyIron]

Hey CNBC, can you do actual audio engineering on your interviews please? It's hard to hear what they're saying due to echoes, distortion and other crap. The narrator sounds great, but the experts sound horrible and I have to turn it up loud to actually reliably make out what they're saying

[@jamesbroomfield7799]

This is how all these politicians get rich. Out of 800 billion dollars, swiping 5 or 10 million dollars here n there goes on and isnt even missed

[@Spider-Too-Too]

remember last time back in sept.10th when their failed the audit?

[@Malik_Maverick]

The level of incompetence is HIGHLY due to a trifecta - unable to get lackluster people out of their jobs/military, outdated tech (or tech that takes forever to fix bugs, etc.), and misallocation of funds to appropriate resources (trust me, we don’t need more tanks, missiles, etc; we need more money for good personnel, especially those for cyber, logistics/HR, and signal/communications). I’m not saying the increase isn’t warranted but if I work at McDonalds and lost $20, I get in trouble. But we can mismanage billions of dollars without oversight and we wonder why we don’t have money to pay for other goods and services.

[@giths19]

I doubt its down to incompetence or being unable to do what you suggested. I believe they use that as an excuse because no one wants to disclose who is making the money/kickbacks.

[@Rezin_8]

Why our "Stimulus" was 1200 and not 12,000🇺🇲

[@November441]

I don’t think its that simple. I was in the Navy as logistics specialist. Thousands of repairable and consumable items ordered, moved, transported daily on one ship alone. We have systems to track items and we do inventories periodically but of course we have missing items that were already used, lost, and etc. we don’t have men power to have 100% accountability of items, and the systems are not perfect. It is a mobile unit. They move around. That makes it even harder. In addition to all the above, military commanders place their missions first before thinking of numbers. Fire drills and battle station exercises come first before doing inventory of all items, audit our purchases and other expenditures. It’s easy to point fingers at others.

[@poncedeoly469]

t budget put up earlier was misleading. it wasn't that high in the 80s. it was 350k in 2002 and that was higher then the 80s. its only skyrocketed since cheney was sec of defense and privatized the military.

[@ikm64]

...all those unidentifies objects...needs equally "unidentified" budgets.

[@ragingbull566]

they don't even know how many overseas installation they have. probably some of their spending went on those unknown bases.

[@striker44]

Corruption from the top. Need to digitize and modernize the system.

[@kt7904]

It's so easy to spend other people's money. Particularly the US taxpayers' money. Americans do not need another nuclear aircraft carrier or a fancy F35 but nicer roads and better health care for all its citizens. What country in the world is sincerely a threat to US national security?

[@GraphicJ]

Let’s start in house with all the unnecessary spending. For example a government toilet paper costs $25 per roll, or adding a stop sign at an intersection is what $15-20k?! Bit of hypocrisy from congress, from these law makers where term limits don’t exist.

[@theobserver3753]

They need a system update.

[@skapunkoialternativeliving6522]

It's easy to spend someone else's money it's that simple..

[@TanningMiami]

The bill introduced by a congress woman that does not even have the common sense to take off her mask on a zoom call. Oh this will go smoothly smh ITS ALL THEATER !

[@jamesgoodman8868]

Agency, incompetence, privatization of key system management activities, customization of off the shelf ERPs, Software ……..

[@majtom5421]

How about we start with Congress to have open accountability on their spending first.

[@phiksit]

They get rich off of insider information... have huge conflicts of interest and nothing is done about it. Status quo... business as usual.

[@Rocky12323]

And term limits

[@timberwolfe1645]

Agree!! Lsts start with the Democrat from california!!

[@jeremyjw]

don't say "the pentagon did this" or "congress did that" point to the actions of specific people don't let those in power hide behind large nebulous entities

[@Baddyusi]

imagine thinking that usa is not a military state after watching all that.

[@satyakisil9711]

Forget Myanmar, this is the real Junta.

[@somguy728]

Every murderous cartel fails its audits. Let's audit Vanguard - the world's greatest cartel. Vanguard directs the CIA.

[@Falconlibrary]

I worked for the Department of Defense as a civilian contract manager. Ghost invoicing was very common in the 1980s and is likely one of the main causes here: what happens is that the "$500 toilet seat" isn't really $500, but is a way to divert funds from authorized expenditures and into "black budget" operations Congress never authorized and often doesn't even know exists. It's a way of the Pentagon doing whatever the hell it wants, basically. I questioned some ghost invoices and got written up.