Pentagon Fails Fifth Consecutive Audit Amid Concerns Over Ukraine Spending

As the White House is requesting another $38 billion in Ukraine aid, the Pentagon has failed it’s fifth consecutive audit. 

The audit, which covered the department’s $3.5 trillion in assets and $3.7 trillion in liabilities, involved 1,600 auditors conducting 220 in-person site visits and 750 virtual site visits. The Pentagon inspector general and independent public accounting firms performed the audit, which was expected to cost $218 million this year. 

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The Pentagon launched its first-ever independent financial audit in 2017 and has yet to pass one. Observers have said that process could mirror the 10-year climb the Department of Homeland Security took, and achieve a clean audit in 2027.

A total of $54 billion in Ukraine funding has already been authorized, and this new funding request would bring spending to roughly 33% more than Russia’s total military spending for the year, and would be double what the U.S. spent in a typical year in Afghanistan during the war there. 

Don't worry: I'm sure these billions and weapons flying around DC and Ukraine are being meticulously accounted for.

That's why Dems and GOP united to block @RandPaul's amendment for oversight.

No need! Raytheon, CIA and Ukraine are famous for transparent, honest accounting. pic.twitter.com/Wba5quEWJ9

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 16, 2022

The soon-to-be Republican-controlled Congress has already indicated that oversight over Ukraine spending is on the agenda, with likely-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy saying last month that Republicans won't be writing a "blank check" for Ukraine amid rising inflation at home. Meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene called for a total cutoff and audit of every penny sent so far. 

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