H.R. 7555

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7555 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7555

To ensure that the Department of Defense achieves a clean audit opinion 
on its financial statements, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 12, 2026

Mr. Pocan (for himself, Mr. Biggs of Arizona, Ms. Omar, Ms. Simon, Mr. 
McGovern, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Norton, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms. 
Stansbury, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, 
Ms. Tlaib, Mrs. Foushee, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, 
Mr. Davis of Illinois, and Ms. Jayapal) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To ensure that the Department of Defense achieves a clean audit opinion 
on its financial statements, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Audit the Pentagon Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

(1) The Pentagon failed its 8th consecutive audit in 
December 2025.
(2) In November 2023, upon failure of its 6th consecutive 
audit, the Pentagon was unable to account for hundreds of 
billions of dollars, accounting for 63 percent of its nearly $4 
trillion in assets.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) as the overall defense budget is cut, the congressional 
defense committees and the Department of Defense should not 
endanger the Armed Forces by reducing wounded warrior accounts 
or vital protection (such as body armor) for members of the 
Armed Forces serving in harm's way;
(2) the valuation of legacy assets by the Department of 
Defense should be simplified without compromising essential 
controls or generally accepted government auditing standards; 
and
(3) nothing in this Act should be construed to require or 
permit the declassification of accounting details about 
classified defense programs, and, as required by law, the 
Department of Defense should ensure financial accountability in 
such programs using proven practices, including using auditors 
with security clearances.

SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SPENDING REDUCTIONS IN THE ABSENCE OF AN 
UNQUALIFIED AUDIT OPINION.

(a) In General.--
(1) Reductions.--If, during any fiscal year after fiscal 
year 2025, the Comptroller of the Department of Defense fails 
to certify to Congress that a department, agency, or other 
element of the Department of Defense has achieved an 
unqualified opinion on its full financial statements, the 
amount available for such department, agency, or element shall 
be reduced--
(A) for the fiscal year during which such 
determination is made, by an amount equal to 0.5 
percent; and
(B) for any subsequent fiscal year during which 
such determination is made, by an amount equal to 1.0 
percent.
(2) Application of reductions.--For any fiscal year for 
which a reduction is made pursuant to paragraph (1) for a 
department, agency, or element, the amount of the reduction 
shall be applied on a pro rata basis against each program, 
project, and activity of such department, agency, or element 
for that fiscal year.
(3) Use of reduced amounts.--The amount of any reduction 
made under paragraph (1) shall be deposited in the General Fund 
of the Treasury and shall be available for purposes of deficit 
reduction.
(b) Accounts Excluded.--The following accounts are excluded from 
any reductions under subsection (a):
(1) Military personnel, reserve personnel, and National 
Guard personnel accounts of the Department of Defense.
(2) The Defense Health Program account of the Department of 
Defense.
(c) Waiver.--The President may waive subsection (a) with respect to 
an account if the President--
(1) certifies that the application of such subsection to 
that account would--
(A) negatively affect the national security of the 
United States or members of the Armed Forces who are 
deployed in combat zones; or
(B) affect the Defense Health Program account; and
(2) submits to the Committee on Appropriations and the 
Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on the Budget of 
the Senate a report on such waiver that includes a description 
of the specific activities that would be affected and why such 
activities are essential to the national security of the United 
States.
(d) Report.--Not later than 60 days after a reduction takes effect 
under subsection (a), the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget shall submit to Congress a report specifying each department, 
agency, or other element of the Department of Defense subject to 
reduction and the amount of the reduction.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The terms ``financial statement'' and ``external 
independent auditor'' have the meanings given those terms in 
section 3521(e) of title 31, United States Code.
(2) The term ``unqualified'', with respect to the audit 
status of a financial statement, includes the characterizations 
clean and unmodified.
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