Massive Pentagon agency lost track of hundreds of millions of dollars

[Eugene]

Source: Politico

Exclusive: Massive Pentagon agency lost track of hundreds of millions of dollars

A damning outside review finds that the Defense Logistics Agency has lost track of where it spent the money.

By BRYAN BENDER 02/05/2018 05:16 AM EST

One of the Pentagon’s largest agencies can't account for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of spending, a leading accounting firm says in an internal audit obtained by POLITICO that arrives just as President Donald Trump is proposing a boost in the military budget.

Ernst & Young found that the Defense Logistics Agency failed to properly document more than $800 million in construction projects, just one of a series of examples where it lacks a paper trail for millions of dollars in property and equipment. Across the board, its financial management is so weak that its leaders and oversight bodies have no reliable way to track the huge sums it's responsible for, the firm warned in its initial audit of the massive Pentagon purchasing agent.

The audit raises new questions about whether the Defense Department can responsibly manage its $700 billion annual budget — let alone the additional billions that Trump plans to propose this month. The department has never undergone a full audit despite a congressional mandate — and to some lawmakers, the messy state of the Defense Logistics Agency's books indicates one may never even be possible.

“If you can’t follow the money, you aren’t going to be able to do an audit,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican and senior member of the Budget and Finance committees, who has pushed successive administrations to clean up the Pentagon’s notoriously wasteful and disorganized accounting system.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/05/pentagon-logistics-agency-review-funds-322860

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Remember on Rumsfelt's watch, the Pentagon lost millions?

And he was supposed to be looking for it?

NOT to be confused with pallets of money that were unaccounted for in Iraq at some point after the invasion.

Damned good thing the dollar isn't worth much, or I would be mad about all this.

[Wwcd]

3. I do remember that. Gee, who's investors got paid on that GOP watch?

The people's money disappears with no paper trail.

[democratisphere]

2. What's a few hundred million among the hundreds of billions?

drumpf change.

[pansypoo53219]

4. SO GIVE THEM MORE MONEY! WEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee!