The Pentagon is the only federal agency that cannot pass a financial audit

Evidence

Faced with such a significant disagreement, I wanted to figure out the real costs of keeping so many bases and troops overseas. Trying to get a handle on the numbers, I talked to budget experts and current and former Pentagon officials, as well as budget officers at bases abroad. Many of the people I spoke to politely suggested this was a fool’s errand, given the number of bases involved, the complexity of distinguishing overseas from domestic spending, and the secrecy of Pentagon budgets. The “frequently fictional” nature of Pentagon accounting also poses a problem: the Department of Defense remains the only federal agency unable to pass a financial audit. Congress first ordered the Pentagon to make itself auditable in 1997; it has since missed numerous deadlines, and the goal is now 2017. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 606

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader pattern of a global military empire being opaque about true costs and consequences documented throughout the book.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 606