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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7555 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7555
To ensure that the Department of Defense achieves a clean audit opinion
on its financial statements, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 12, 2026
Mr. Pocan (for himself, Mr. Biggs of Arizona, Ms. Omar, Ms. Simon, Mr.
McGovern, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Norton, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms.
Stansbury, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin,
Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Foushee, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Garcia of Illinois,
Mr. Davis of Illinois, and Ms. Jayapal) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure that the Department of Defense achieves a clean audit opinion
on its financial statements, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Audit the Pentagon Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(1) The Pentagon failed its 8th consecutive audit in
December 2025.
(2) In November 2023, upon failure of its 6th consecutive
audit, the Pentagon was unable to account for hundreds of
billions of dollars, accounting for 63 percent of its nearly $4
trillion in assets.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) as the overall defense budget is cut, the congressional
defense committees and the Department of Defense should not
endanger the Armed Forces by reducing wounded warrior accounts
or vital protection (such as body armor) for members of the
Armed Forces serving in harm's way;
(2) the valuation of legacy assets by the Department of
Defense should be simplified without compromising essential
controls or generally accepted government auditing standards;
and
(3) nothing in this Act should be construed to require or
permit the declassification of accounting details about
classified defense programs, and, as required by law, the
Department of Defense should ensure financial accountability in
such programs using proven practices, including using auditors
with security clearances.
SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SPENDING REDUCTIONS IN THE ABSENCE OF AN
UNQUALIFIED AUDIT OPINION.
(a) In General.--
(1) Reductions.--If, during any fiscal year after fiscal
year 2025, the Comptroller of the Department of Defense fails
to certify to Congress that a department, agency, or other
element of the Department of Defense has achieved an
unqualified opinion on its full financial statements, the
amount available for such department, agency, or element shall
be reduced--
(A) for the fiscal year during which such
determination is made, by an amount equal to 0.5
percent; and
(B) for any subsequent fiscal year during which
such determination is made, by an amount equal to 1.0
percent.
(2) Application of reductions.--For any fiscal year for
which a reduction is made pursuant to paragraph (1) for a
department, agency, or element, the amount of the reduction
shall be applied on a pro rata basis against each program,
project, and activity of such department, agency, or element
for that fiscal year.
(3) Use of reduced amounts.--The amount of any reduction
made under paragraph (1) shall be deposited in the General Fund
of the Treasury and shall be available for purposes of deficit
reduction.
(b) Accounts Excluded.--The following accounts are excluded from
any reductions under subsection (a):
(1) Military personnel, reserve personnel, and National
Guard personnel accounts of the Department of Defense.
(2) The Defense Health Program account of the Department of
Defense.
(c) Waiver.--The President may waive subsection (a) with respect to
an account if the President--
(1) certifies that the application of such subsection to
that account would--
(A) negatively affect the national security of the
United States or members of the Armed Forces who are
deployed in combat zones; or
(B) affect the Defense Health Program account; and
(2) submits to the Committee on Appropriations and the
Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on the Budget of
the Senate a report on such waiver that includes a description
of the specific activities that would be affected and why such
activities are essential to the national security of the United
States.
(d) Report.--Not later than 60 days after a reduction takes effect
under subsection (a), the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget shall submit to Congress a report specifying each department,
agency, or other element of the Department of Defense subject to
reduction and the amount of the reduction.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The terms ``financial statement'' and ``external
independent auditor'' have the meanings given those terms in
section 3521(e) of title 31, United States Code.
(2) The term ``unqualified'', with respect to the audit
status of a financial statement, includes the characterizations
clean and unmodified.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
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