Looking for Answers on Fiscal Mismanagement at the Defense Department
            
This week I questioned the Defense Department about the financial management at the Pentagon.  Senator Tom Coburn and I sent a letter to several people in the Defense Department asking about the breakdown of internal controls over big bucks which leaves the door wide open to theft and misuse of taxpayer money.

 The mismanagement we asked about was uncovered by the department’s Inspector General who had audited the internal controls and reliability of transaction data at Camp Pendleton, Camp Lejeune and Camp Foster.  Inspectors general are the independent watchdogs at federal agencies tasked with investigating allegations of wrongdoing, conducting audits, performing program evaluations.  

The Inspector General brought to light a sad commentary at the Defense Department, the Marine Corps and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.  Unfortunately, it’s more of the same.  The department must make a concerted effort, once and for all, to get its fiscal house in order.  The auditors in the Inspector General’s office also need to do their part by completing “end to end” reviews of sampled payments and making recommendations that hold civilians and military personnel accountable for irresponsible fiscal decisions.  

I first began conducting oversight of the Department of Defense in the 1980's when fraud, waste and abuse was rampant at the Pentagon. I worked with other reformers to put spare parts over-pricing under the public microscope, resulting in horror stories about $750 toilet seats and $695 ashtrays for military aircraft.  In the 1990s I began looking at broader financial management issues at the Pentagon and uncovered a whole load of problems.  We found that internal controls at the department were weak or non-existent and left the door wide open to fraud and outright theft.  I’m now re-visiting the bookkeeping malpractice at the Pentagon and hope to issue a report later this year.

Taxpayers won’t stand for waste, fraud and abuse of their hard-earned money while the business as usual culture of the Defense Department continues.  Here’s a link to my letter to officials at the Defense Department.