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=== Criticism of finances ===
=== Criticism of finances ===
A 2013 ''Reuters'' investigation concluded that [[Defense Finance and Accounting Service|Defense Finance & Accounting Service]], the Department of Defense's primary financial management arm, implements monthly "unsubstantiated change actions"—illegal, inaccurate "plugs"—that forcibly make DoD's books match Treasury's books.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Paltrow |first=Scot J. |date=November 18, 2013 |title=Special Report: The Pentagon's doctored ledgers conceal epic waste |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pentagon-waste-specialreport-idUSBRE9AH0LQ20131118 |access-date=February 16, 2021 |archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204112723/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pentagon-waste-specialreport-idUSBRE9AH0LQ20131118 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Reuters]] reported that [[the Pentagon]] was the only federal agency that had not released annual audits as required by a 1992 law. According to Reuters, the Pentagon "annually reports to Congress that its books are in such disarray that an audit is impossible".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Paltrow |first1=Scot J. |last2=Carr |first2=Kelly |date=July 2, 2013 |title=Reuters Investigates – Unaccountable: The Pentagon's bad bookkeeping |url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106192706/https://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part1 |archive-date=January 6, 2020 |access-date=December 24, 2019 |work=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Paltrow |first=Scot J. |date=2013-11-18 |title=Special Report: The Pentagon's doctored ledgers conceal epic waste |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pentagon-waste-specialreport-idUSBRE9AH0LQ20131118 |access-date=2021-02-16 |archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204112723/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pentagon-waste-specialreport-idUSBRE9AH0LQ20131118 |url-status=live }}</ref>
A 2013 ''Reuters'' investigation concluded that [[Defense Finance and Accounting Service|Defense Finance & Accounting Service]], the Department of Defense's primary financial management arm, implements monthly "unsubstantiated change actions"—illegal, inaccurate "plugs"—that forcibly make DoD's books match Treasury's books.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Paltrow |first=Scot J. |date=November 18, 2013 |title=Special Report: The Pentagon's doctored ledgers conceal epic waste |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pentagon-waste-specialreport-idUSBRE9AH0LQ20131118 |access-date=February 16, 2021 |archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204112723/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pentagon-waste-specialreport-idUSBRE9AH0LQ20131118 |url-status=live }}</ref> Reuters reported that [[the Pentagon]] was the only federal agency that had not released annual audits as required by a 1992 law. According to Reuters, the Pentagon "annually reports to Congress that its books are in such disarray that an audit is impossible".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Paltrow |first1=Scot J. |last2=Carr |first2=Kelly |date=July 2, 2013 |title=Reuters Investigates – Unaccountable: The Pentagon's bad bookkeeping |url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106192706/https://www.reuters.com/investigates/pentagon/#article/part1 |archive-date=January 6, 2020 |access-date=December 24, 2019 |work=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Paltrow |first=Scot J. |date=2013-11-18 |title=Special Report: The Pentagon's doctored ledgers conceal epic waste |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pentagon-waste-specialreport-idUSBRE9AH0LQ20131118 |access-date=2021-02-16 |archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204112723/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pentagon-waste-specialreport-idUSBRE9AH0LQ20131118 |url-status=live }}</ref>


In 2015, a Pentagon consulting firm performed an audit on the Department of Defense's budget. It found that there was $125 billion in wasteful spending that could be saved over the next five years without layoffs or reduction in military personnel. In 2016, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' uncovered that rather than taking the advice of the auditing firm, senior defense officials suppressed and hid the report from the public to avoid political scrutiny.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/pentagon-buries-evidence-of-125-billion-in-bureaucratic-waste/2016/12/05/e0668c76-9af6-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html |title=Pentagon buries evidence of $125 billion in bureaucratic waste |last1=Whitlock |first1=Craig |date=December 5, 2016 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=December 18, 2017 |last2=Woodward |first2=Bob |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=December 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218070634/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/pentagon-buries-evidence-of-125-billion-in-bureaucratic-waste/2016/12/05/e0668c76-9af6-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In June 2016, the [[Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense|Office of the Inspector General]] released a report stating that the Army made $6.5 trillion in wrongful adjustments to its accounting entries in 2015.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Paltrow |first1=Scot J. |date=August 19, 2016 |title=U.S. Army fudged its accounts by trillions of dollars, auditor finds |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-audit-army/u-s-army-fudged-its-accounts-by-trillions-of-dollars-auditor-finds-idUSKCN10U1IG |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171221045604/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-audit-army/u-s-army-fudged-its-accounts-by-trillions-of-dollars-auditor-finds-idUSKCN10U1IG |archive-date=December 21, 2017 |access-date=December 18, 2017 |work=Reuters}}</ref> The Department of Defense failed its fifth audit in 2022, and could not account for more than 60% of its $3.5 trillion in assets.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Ellen |date=November 17, 2022 |title=Defense Department fails another audit, but makes progress|url=https://thehill.com/policy/defense/3740921-defense-department-fails-another-audit-but-makes-progress/ |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |location= |access-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-date=January 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119050754/https://thehill.com/policy/defense/3740921-defense-department-fails-another-audit-but-makes-progress/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2015, a Pentagon consulting firm performed an audit on the Department of Defense's budget. It found that there was $125 billion in wasteful spending that could be saved over the next five years without layoffs or reduction in military personnel. In 2016, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' uncovered that rather than taking the advice of the auditing firm, senior defense officials suppressed and hid the report from the public to avoid political scrutiny.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/pentagon-buries-evidence-of-125-billion-in-bureaucratic-waste/2016/12/05/e0668c76-9af6-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html |title=Pentagon buries evidence of $125 billion in bureaucratic waste |last1=Whitlock |first1=Craig |date=December 5, 2016 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=December 18, 2017 |last2=Woodward |first2=Bob |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=December 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218070634/https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/pentagon-buries-evidence-of-125-billion-in-bureaucratic-waste/2016/12/05/e0668c76-9af6-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In June 2016, the [[Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense|Office of the Inspector General]] released a report stating that the Army made $6.5 trillion in wrongful adjustments to its accounting entries in 2015.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Paltrow |first1=Scot J. |date=August 19, 2016 |title=U.S. Army fudged its accounts by trillions of dollars, auditor finds |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-audit-army/u-s-army-fudged-its-accounts-by-trillions-of-dollars-auditor-finds-idUSKCN10U1IG |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171221045604/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-audit-army/u-s-army-fudged-its-accounts-by-trillions-of-dollars-auditor-finds-idUSKCN10U1IG |archive-date=December 21, 2017 |access-date=December 18, 2017 |work=Reuters}}</ref> The Department of Defense failed its fifth audit in 2022, and could not account for more than 60% of its $3.5 trillion in assets.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Ellen |date=November 17, 2022 |title=Defense Department fails another audit, but makes progress|url=https://thehill.com/policy/defense/3740921-defense-department-fails-another-audit-but-makes-progress/ |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |location= |access-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-date=January 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119050754/https://thehill.com/policy/defense/3740921-defense-department-fails-another-audit-but-makes-progress/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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