A Fox News host confronted Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas about the Pentagon's fifth failed audit as he was discussing the debt ceiling deal.
Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream spoke with Cotton on Sunday about concerns related to defense spending that could be reduced if "waste and fraud" were addressed at the Defense Department, which has now failed its audit five times in a row.
She pointed out that Congress gives the Pentagon more money each year instead of demanding "responsible financial management" and that there are "millions, possibly billions of dollars in wasted money" within the government agency.
"Is there money there that could be helpful to these concerns you have?" Bream asked Cotton. The GOP senator responded by saying that there are opportunities for the Pentagon to reform, especially when it comes to the way it procures weapon systems.
"However, if you're talking millions and billions in reform, we're talking about tens of billions at a minimum and additional needs to deter China and deter Iran, and deter Russia," he added. "We've seen this happen in the past in the Trump era, secretaries were able to find savings and then their savings returned back into procurement of more aircraft and ships and vehicles."
Cotton on Sunday confirmed that the "Pentagon can find savings but not savings to match and offset the cuts in this [debt deal] bill, or the threats that we face from countries like China and Iran and Russia." The Republican senator on Thursday filed an amendment to the debt ceiling package to prevent further cuts to "critical" defense spending.
On Thursday the Senate voted 63-36 to send a bill raising the U.S. borrowing limit to President Joe Biden's desk, ending monthslong negotiations between Republicans and Democrats who were trying to find solutions that would satisfy both sides and prevent the country from defaulting on its debts.
The final deal reduces the national debt by $1.5 trillion, with roughly $1.3 trillion of the savings stemming from instituting caps on non-defense discretionary spending for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. Spending for 2024 will remain around current levels, and 2025 spending cannot be raised by more than 1 percent.
The bill also curbs federal spending that would include possibly cutting out $16 billion worth of lower-priority defense items such as tanks and helicopter upgrades that would usually be included in the defense budget, according to Reuters.
In March, the GOP-led House Committee on Oversight and Accountability said it wanted to investigate the Defense Department for "failing to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse" following its fifth audit failure last November.
The Pentagon was unable to account for around 61 percent of its assets, The Hill reported at the time, citing Pentagon Comptroller Mike McCord.
The fifth audit failure comes after 1,600 auditors looked into the department's $3.5 trillion worth of assets and $3.7 trillion in liabilities. McCord said at the time that the Defense Department had a "clean" audit, but "failed to get an 'A.'" A federal law requires all agencies to undergo mandatory audits, and since fiscal year 2013 all federal government agencies were able to satisfy that requirement except for the Pentagon.
"I would not say that we flunked. The process is important for us to do, and it is making us get better. It is not making us get better as fast as we want," McCord said in November.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, GOP Representative James Comer of Kentucky, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, and GOP Representative Pete Sessions of Texas requested a briefing to obtain more information on the Pentagon's failed audit, financial management practices and what the agency is doing to improve.
"The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the Department of Defense's (DOD) failure to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. In November 2022, DOD failed its fifth consecutive audit, unable to account for sixty-one percent of its $3.5 trillion in assets. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) also recently reported that DOD continues to fail to accurately account for hundreds of billions of dollars of government furnished property in the hands of contractors," the two Republican lawmakers wrote in the letter.
"DOD's inability to adequately track assets risks our military readiness and represents a flagrant disregard for taxpayer funds, even as it receives nearly a trillion dollars annually."
Newsweek reached out by email to the Pentagon's media office for comment.
