Home California Congressman DeSaulnier Demands Action after DoD Fails First-Ever Audit

Congressman DeSaulnier Demands Action after DoD Fails First-Ever Audit

by ECT
Rep Mark DeSaulnier

Washington, DC – Friday, Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), a Member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, issued the following statement after the Department of Defense (DoD) failed its first-ever agency wide audit.

“After years of pressing for this audit, today’s findings confirm what we expected: a lack of transparency and accountability has led to decades of wasteful spending at the DoD. Also concerning is what this process has revealed about the culture at DoD, with one official admitting, ‘[w]e never thought we were going to pass an audit.’ The long-overdue details of the report should send a strong signal to Congress that the years of authorizing bloated defense spending without accountability must come to an end.”

“With this irrefutable evidence, I will press DoD to make necessary reforms and will work with relevant committees when we are in the Majority in January to hold DoD accountable. It is time we heed the warning of President Eisenhower and ‘guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.’ This mess will take years to remedy so we must correct course now while being faithful to the service and dedication of our troops and their families at home and abroad.”

Congressman DeSaulnier introduced the Department of Defense Waste Reduction Act (H.R. 2367) to prevent DoD from receiving any additional funding until wasteful spending practices within the Department are addressed. Additionally, he and Congresswoman Jackie Speier successfully requested congressional hearings to investigate DoD’s spending practices. Since coming to Congress, DeSaulnier has never voted in favor of the annual bill to authorize defense spending.

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