Committee member alleges Defense Department never passed an audit, cites over $10 billion in confirmed fraud

During questioning about oversight and accountability, a committee member asked how many consecutive audits the Department of Defense had failed as of the end of 2025.

An agency official responded, "The department is making progress towards the audit." The question was repeated, and a committee member later asserted, "is eight. And, Mr. Vote, the Department of Defense is the only federal agency that has never passed an audit. And, you want to talk to me about fraud? There is over at least 10 billion dollars in confirmed fraud within the Department of Defense, but you're not going after any of that."

The exchange included an explicit allegation of both systemic audit failure and significant confirmed fraud. Agency officials did not present documentation during the hearing to corroborate the figure cited or to detail the status of past audits; instead, the official characterized the department as working to complete an audit. The committee member's remarks framed the issues as a combination of audit noncompliance and enforcement shortfalls.

The hearing record shows a dispute between committee members pressing for concrete answers about the Defense Department's audit history and officials emphasizing that audit work was ongoing. No formal findings or votes were produced during this exchange.

Committee members asked for clarification of audit counts and evidence; officials indicated progress but did not provide immediate details on the alleged fraud figure or on which audits had formally failed.