Pentagon fails financial audit for eighth consecutive year

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has failed its financial audit for the eighth consecutive year, continuing a pattern of systemic challenges in fully accounting for its assets, according to the Defense Department's Agency Financial Report for fiscal year 2025, released on December 19.

Despite Congress mandating annual audits since 2018, the Pentagon remains the only one of the US government’s 24 major agencies never to pass an audit. This year's report identified 26 material weaknesses and two significant deficiencies in the department’s financial reporting, Defense News writes.

Among the critical issues highlighted were errors related to the Joint Strike Fighter Program, a major initiative aimed at developing an affordable strike aircraft for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and allied nations. Auditors found that the Pentagon had failed to accurately report assets in the program’s Global Spares Pool, leaving gaps in data regarding the existence, completeness, or value of the assets.

“The DOD could not provide or obtain accurate and reliable data to verify the existence, completeness or value of its Global Spares Pool assets for the Joint Strike Fighter Program,” the report noted. “As a result, the omission of the Joint Strike Fighter Program Global Spares Pool assets resulted in a material misstatement on the Agency-Wide Financial Statements.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to the audit’s findings, reiterating the department’s commitment to financial transparency and improvement. 

The Pentagon’s total assets are reported at $4.65 trillion, with liabilities at $4.7 trillion, spread across all 50 states and more than 40 countries. Despite the ongoing challenges, the Pentagon’s Chief Financial Officer, Jules Hurst, expressed optimism for future audits.

"The department aims to resolve critical issues and achieve an 'unmodified' audit opinion by 2028," Hurst wrote in a letter included in the report.

By Sabina Mammadli