Sessions and Mfume Examine DOD’s Progress Toward Achieving a Clean Audit

WASHINGTON––Subcommittee on Government Operations Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Ranking Member Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) continue to examine the Department of Defense’s (DOD) financial management practices and path toward achieving a clean audit. In a letter to DOD Secretary Pete Hegseth, the lawmakers request a bipartisan briefing on DOD’s updated efforts to address any outstanding issues related to the Department’s financial management and progress toward achieving a clean audit by December 2028, with a plan declared by the end of June 2025.  
“DOD spending comprises nearly half of the federal government’s discretionary spending and its physical assets make up more than 70 percent of the government’s physical assets. The failure to fully account for these assets and spending results in gaps in DOD’s operational readiness and the financial strength of the entire federal government,” said the lawmakers. “Experts from the DOD Office of the Inspector General, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) detailed the challenges that DOD faces and necessary actions to increase the likelihood of achieving a clean audit opinion by the mandated deadline of December 31, 2028.” 
 
This examination of DOD’s progress is part of the Subcommittee’s larger investigation into DOD’s discretionary spending and ineffective financial management that prevents them from achieving a clean audit.  The Subcommittee held a hearing on April 29, 2025, to track DOD’s progress toward achieving a clean audit. DOD has failed seven financial audits and has not achieved a clean audit since being required to in 1990. The U.S. Marine Corps is the only service to obtain a clean audit opinion. The Department’s long history of poor financial and fraud risk management also makes it highly susceptible to fraud, waste, and abuse. The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will continue to examine how DOD can be a better steward of taxpayer dollars. 
 
“In correspondence received in lieu of attendance, we were assured ‘that working towards a ‘clean audit’ is among the Department’s top priorities.’ As stated in previous hearings, if DOD is to achieve a clean audit opinion by December 2028, significant progress must be made by fiscal year 2026. Based on testimony before the Subcommittee, there is still a lot of work ahead for the Department. To assist the Committee’s oversight of this matter, we request a briefing on DOD’s efforts to address outstanding issues related to financial management and plans for achieving a clean audit opinion for the Department, by June 27, 2025,” concluded the lawmakers.  
 
Read the letter to Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth here.