House approves budget cuts for failed war audits

The Department of War faces a budget cut if it fails to pass an independent audit under an amendment adopted by the House.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., authored the measure, which was added to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The amendment, which was approved late Tuesday, applies if the department "has not submitted a financial statement for the previous fiscal year, or if such financial statement has not received either an unqualified or a qualified audit opinion by an independent external auditor," according to the amendment's text.

Under the measure, any resulting reduction would be "applied proportionately to each account," with exceptions.

Military personnel, reserve personnel, National Guard personnel, and the Defense Health Program account are excluded from the cuts, per the amendment.

The amendment also includes a presidential waiver provision.

"The President may waive subsection with respect to an account if the President certifies that applying the subsection to that account would harm national security or members of the Armed Forces who are deployed in combat zones," the amendment reads.

Any funds withheld under the measure would be "retained in the general fund of the Treasury for the purposes of deficit reduction," the amendment says.

Biggs introduced a related bill, the Audit the Pentagon Act, in February with Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis.

"For years, the Pentagon has failed audit after audit while Congress continues to write blank checks," Biggs said in a release announcing that bill. "That's unacceptable. The American people demand accountability for every taxpayer dollar, especially when we're spending more than $1 trillion on our defense annually, and we're facing a $38 trillion national debt."

Biggs added: "The Audit the Pentagon Act imposes tangible consequences for bureaucratic failure. A strong national defense demands both readiness and fiscal responsibility. The era of endless excuses must end."

The House approved Biggs' NDAA amendment by voice vote Tuesday evening.

The Hill reported that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said the department is on track to pass a clean audit in 2028.

"We made it a priority from Day 1, and the process is forcing every corner of the Pentagon to go line by line with exacting detail," Hegseth wrote in a New York Post opinion piece last month.

The Department of War failed its eighth consecutive audit in late 2025.