No Audit? No Problem: Republicans Blindly Support More Defense Spending – HuffPost
WASHINGTON When President Donald Trump released a budget last week with a 10 percent Pentagon increase over current budget caps andmassive cuts to the social safety net, a common reaction among congressional Republicans was this: Why didnt Trump ask for even more defense spending?
There was no plus-up, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) told HuffPost. Its a 3 percent increase over the Obama budget. That doesnt jibe with what the president said, so, frankly, Im confused.
So automatic so reflexive is the support for more defense spending among Republicans that they dont seem to care that the Pentagon has never completed an audit. Or, if they care, they dont care enough to actually make the Defense Department account for the more than $600 billion a year it already receives before they hand over even more money.
Like many Republicans, Hunter supports auditing the Pentagon. But he wouldnt support fencing off any of the new money for the Defense Department until it completes that audit. And until Congress introduces consequences for the Pentagons failure to complete an audit, its likely that lawmakers will find themselves in the same familiar position year after year: in favor of an audit but unable to get their hands on one.
Over the past two weeks, HuffPost interviewed more than two dozen House Republicans about military spending and the Pentagons inability to complete an audit. Almost all of them supported breaking the budget caps that Congress set for defense in 2011 while simultaneously advocating large cuts to domestic programs, citing a $20 trillion national debt.
But there was scant support for delaying budget increases until the Pentagon completes an audit, with some members suggesting they would maybe sign on to such a proposal and many more outright opposing the idea.
The United States already spends more on defense than the next seven nations combined. In 2015, the country spent $596 billion on defense. The next closest nation, China, spent $215 billion, with Saudi Arabia ($87 billion) and Russia ($66 billion) following behind. Congress, the Pentagon, and a thriving defense contractor industry have all tied how much money the United States spends to how safe its citizens are.
But what if money spent and military capabilities arent necessarily bound together? If youre really concerned about our safety, wouldnt you want to make sure that our defense dollars are really going to defense? And how do Republicans really know the Pentagon needs more money?
If you sat through the classified briefing that I just held with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, you wouldnt ask that question, Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) told HuffPost.
Granger is the chairwoman of the appropriations subcommittee in charge of defense spending perhaps the most sought-after subcommittee position in Congress and although she supports an audit and said there are places in the defense budget where we overspend, she doesnt support withholding any money until the Pentagon completes one. In fact, her general belief is that Congress should give the Defense Department as much as it can.
Id go for the highest amount we can achieve, because its still not gonna be enough, she said.
That isnt just the position of the person doling out the Pentagons dollars; its the position of most Republicans in Congress.
We cannot wait to fix our planes and ships until the audit is done, the budget is balanced, and the moon and the stars all align, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) told HuffPost. We need ships that sail, planes that fly, today.
Again, Thornberry supports an audit, but he doesnt support fencing off any additional money until the Pentagon completes its accounting.
You gotta walk and chew gum, Thornberry said. You gotta make the department more efficient. You gotta improve their acquisition. And at the same time, you gotta give the people who are risking their lives the training, the equipment, the best this country can provide.
Alex Wong via Getty Images
Republicans seem to believe the military is drastically underfunded. And even if they dont have official documentation of that, theyre certain the Pentagon needs more money.
Just talk to any general over there, and theyll tell you what they need, said Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), a former Armed Services Committee member who gave up his position on the panel to become Natural Resources Committee chairman.
But if you doubt that generals are the most disinterested party when it comes to whether the U.S.needs more defense spending, there are always the lawmakers who oversee the projects that directly benefit their districts.
The open secret on Capitol Hill is that the members whose constituents most rely on defense spending often find themselves on the House Armed Services Committee or the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. In one of the last remaining vestiges of congressional logrolling, members support a slate of other defense projects to ensure that their particular program is approved.
When HuffPost talked to Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, he made it clear that he supports more defense spending, but that its not just the increase, its where would the increases be.
And by that, Wittman who represents parts of coastal Virginia where many jobs rely on shipbuilding made it clear he wants the Pentagon to take care of his district.
For Navy, for shipbuilding, I want to make sure were doing the right things there, getting those things taken care of, he said.
Still, like almost every Republican we talked to, Wittman supported an audit. He just isnt prepared to hold back any additional spending until the Pentagon completes that audit, even if theres good evidence that the Pentagon isnt spending as wisely as it could.
Republicans arent entirely to blame for these problems. It takes the cooperation of Democrats for a massive government agency like the Pentagon to never complete an audit. And perhaps part of the reason Democrats have gone along with increasing the defense budget with little accountability is that, up until just recently, Republicans have matched every dollar of defense spending over the budget caps with a dollar for other domestic programs.
While Democrats also thought the Pentagon should undergo an audit, they werent exactly advocating for defense cuts.
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, thought focusing on the Pentagons inability to perform an audit was an awkward question to ask.
Instead, he thought the more pressing issue was the GOPs unwillingness to raise taxes to pay for the defense increases lawmakers want.
Slashing every other aspect of the budget to plus-up defense shows misplaced priorities about what is important for a strong country, Smith said. That if our infrastructure is crumbling, if we stop investing in research, if we gut education, if we take money away from poor people at a time of growing wealth disparity, that we will have a country that is worse off because of it.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), one of the most outspoken proponents of the social safety net in Congress, called the GOP budget cruel and rotten.
We need to redefine what we mean by national security, McGovern said. It needs to encompass more than just the number of bombs we have. It needs to include things like whether people have enough to eat, and whether or not people have adequate housing, and whether people have jobs. I mean, those things are important to our national security. Those are the things that people lose sleep at night worrying about.
But if Republicans have tied increases in defense spending to increases in those other domestic programs, Democrats may have an actual interest in keeping defense spending high. And a Defense Department audit may undermine that effort.
In January 2015, an internal Pentagon study found $125 billion in administrative waste that could be eliminated over five years. Defense officials promptly buried the report to avoid the cuts cuts that would not have resulted in layoffs or troop reductions, but would have restricted the use of expensive contractors and streamlined information technology.
DefenseNews wrote a story on the report almost immediately, but it wasnt until nearly a year later that the study got any major attention, after The Washington Post reported that Pentagon officials had attempted to bury it.
Most of the handful of Republicans who seemed uneasy about the Pentagon budget cited the Post story as evidence that maybe the Defense Department could spend its money a little better.
Even among those conservatives generally uneasy about any spending, however, most werent rushing to draft an amendment that would force the Pentagon to complete an audit by a certain date or else suffer some sort of cut. Instead, when you ask conservatives what they want to do about the Pentagons lack of auditing, many suggest more discussion.
Well talk about it, have some hearings, said former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
Current Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) did say that not only did the Pentagon need to be audited, but that we need to cut back on their staffing by as many as 100,000.
125 billion dollars, eventually, year after year, that adds up to real money, Meadows joked, with a wink.
But when you press conservatives on what theyre prepared to do to ensure the Pentagon completes an audit, they resort to vague platitudes about cutting debt and talking points about the need for an audit. (Meadows, who was entering a meeting with the Freedom Caucus, said the group would talk about the issue that very night.)
No one seems all that interested in offering an amendment to a defense appropriations bill that would require an audit and also have some teeth by, say, subjecting the Pentagon to the spending caps Congress set for defense in 2011 if it does not complete a full accounting.
After HuffPost asked whether he would support such a proposal, conservative Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) did say he was going to introduce such an amendment, just for you.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Excusing those few Republican voices in Congress who believe we need to cut it all as Massie has urged Congress to do for every part of government Republicans and Democrats seem perfectly content rubber-stamping even more defense dollars, which is exactly how the Pentagon found itself in this decades-long age of unaccountability in the first place.
When HuffPost asked acting Pentagon comptroller John Roth about the Defense Departments auditing problems, Roth said an audit had only become a priority in the last five or six years. One of the reasons we are where we are is for about 20 years, no one really cared, Roth said last week. So thats why we didnt move the ball.
The Pentagon is closer to an audit than ever before, Roth added. Under current law, the Defense Department is supposed to have an audit ready by September 30, 2017. Officials already acknowledge theyll blow past that deadline.
Its going to take more than a year to get there, Roth said. But we have to start.
Officials note that different accounting procedures and software across the massive Defense Department make it difficult to perfectly track every dollar. How bad is the problem? In July 2016, an accounting service for the Army could not find documentation for $6.5 trillion worth of transactions over the years.
Thats roughly the same amount of money Trump suggested Congress approve for the military over the next 10 years.
If lawmakers get their way, itll be much more than that.
David Wood contributed to this report.
Go here to see the original:
No Audit? No Problem: Republicans Blindly Support More Defense Spending - HuffPost
- Republicans used to be the fiscally conservative party, but look at us now - Idaho Capital Sun - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Trump Goes on a Charm Offensive as He Woos Holdout Republicans - The New York Times - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- U.S. Rep. Castor Statement on Republicans Big Ugly Bill That Will Inflict Outsized Harm & Raise Costs on Floridians - U.S. Representative Kathy... - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Opinion | Republicans may be cooking up a mess in Texas - The Washington Post - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Republicans, Democrats start gaming out Trump's tax-cut bill hit to 2026 elections - Reuters - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Republicans Pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Ahead of the July 4 Deadline - Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- These Republicans Savaged Their Partys Bill, Then Voted for It - The New York Times - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- How Republicans Re-engineered the Tax Code - The New York Times - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Republicans passed the 'big, beautiful bill.' Will it come back to haunt them? - USA Today - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Congressional Republicans defy expectations and send megabill to Trump - Colorado Public Radio - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Why Republicans once staunchly opposed to Trumps bill changed their minds - PBS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Texas Republicans vote to send GOPs tax and spending megabill to Trumps desk after threatening to tank it - The Texas Tribune - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- The 2 House Republicans who voted no on Trump's sweeping domestic policy bill - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- House Republicans pass their megabill, sending it to President Trump - Politico - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Jeffries calls out Republicans over Medicaid ahead of final megabill vote - Politico - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Which House Republicans voted against Trump tax bill? - USA Today - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- These House Republicans Voted Against Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' - Newsweek - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- These are the 5 Republicans who voted against Trumps Big Beautiful Bill - AL.com - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Where Trumps massive policy bill stands in the House as some Republicans express concerns - PBS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- House Republicans expected to pass Trump's massive tax and policy bill by July 4 - NPR - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Republicans Vulnerable to Losing Their Seats After Voting Yes on Trump Bill - Newsweek - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Who were the 2 Republicans that voted against Trump's tax bill? - NBC 5 Chicago - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- House Republicans advance Trump's tax-cut bill to a final vote - Reuters - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Congress passes Trump's tax and spending bill, with all four Colorado Republicans in the House voting "yes" - The Colorado Sun - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Republicans Just Passed the Worst Bill in Modern American History - Mother Jones - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Senate works a tense overnight session as Republicans seek support for Trumps big bill - PBS - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Article | Senate Republicans shock the House with a supercharged megabill - POLITICO Pro - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans struggle to push Trump's budget bill over the finish line - BBC - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Which Republicans Voted Against Trumps Bill in the Senate - The New York Times - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- The Republicans who bucked Trump on his big bill: From the Politics Desk - NBC News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Why Republicans are rushing to pass Trump's "big, beautiful bill" - MSNBC News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- House Republicans don't have the votes yet to pass Trump's megabill - CNBC - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Which Senate Republicans voted against Trump's tax and spending bill? - USA Today - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Fact-Checking Trump and Republicans on Proposed Tax Cuts in Policy Bill - The New York Times - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Senate Republicans just voted to dismantle Americas only climate plan - Grist.org - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Senate Republicans pass Trumps big bill but it may cost them in the future - The Guardian - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- House Republicans race toward a final vote on Trumps tax bill, daring critics to oppose - AP News - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- The Republicans in Congress Who Are Opting to Self-Deport From Washington - The New York Times - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Ahead of 2026, Georgia Republicans Are Quietly Installing Election Conspiracy Theorists on Local Boards - Democracy Docket - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Whats in the latest version of Trumps big bill Senate Republicans are trying to pass - PBS - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- The Top 5 Ways the Congressional Republicans Budget Reconciliation Bill Will Harm Disabled Students - Center for American Progress - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Republicans introduce last-minute industry killer tax on solar and wind in spending bill - CNN - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Young Republicans are fueling the GOPs generational divide on Israel - The Washington Post - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Senate Republicans tax cuts cost projected to rise to $4.45T - Politico - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Whats in Trump and Senate Republicans tax and immigration bill? - The Washington Post - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans move to slash consumer bureau funding by half, risking hundreds of job cuts - AP News - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans advance Trump's tax and spending cuts bill after dramatic late-night vote - AP News - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans scramble to pass Trump's big bill before July 4 deadline - Scripps News - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Trump attacks Republicans who voted against big beautiful Bill - Yahoo - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Governor Hochul Slams Washington Republicans for Threatening New Yorkers Jobs, Small Businesses and Health Care in the North Country - Governor Kathy... - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Trump reacts to Tillis not seeking re-election, sends warning to 'cost cutting Republicans' - Fox News - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Article | Senate Republicans make steep cuts to wind and solar in updated megabill text - POLITICO Pro - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans scrambling to pass tax-and-spend bill by Trump deadline - The Guardian - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Republicans rush to pass Big, Beautiful Bill ahead of July 4th holiday - CGTN America - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans Can Still Abandon Disastrous, Rushed Reconciliation Bill - Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Gov. Kotek blames transportation package failure on Republicans who just wanted to go home - Oregon Capital Chronicle - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Republicans dangle reprieve from tax retaliation as Trump bill heads toward votes - Reuters - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- News Wrap: Senate Republicans unveil their version of Trumps big budget bill - PBS - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Republicans are champing at the bit to use Mamdani to attack Dems - City & State New York - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- US Senate Republicans aim to push ahead on Trump's sweeping tax-cut, spending bill - Reuters - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- The Red State Where Republicans Arent Afraid of Trump - The Atlantic - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans near deal on Trumps tax bill, lawmakers say - The Washington Post - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Republicans hit major setback in their effort to ease regulations on gun silencers - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Ordinary Republicans Hate Trumps Big, Beautiful Bill Once They Know What It Does - Mother Jones - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans Reprise Push to Pay for Tax Cuts by Slashing Food Stamps - The New York Times - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Remembering Melissa Hortman: Republicans and Democrats say her power came from her selflessness - Minnesota Reformer - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans scramble to resolve tense divisions as Trump threatens their vacation over his big bill - NBC News - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- With Trump Bill, Republicans Try to Change the Way Budgets Work - The New York Times - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans are down to the wire on Trumps tax bill - The Washington Post - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans explore tweaks to pension plan after parliamentarian ruling - Politico - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Democrats Protect Americans from Terrorism and Violent Extremism, Republicans Leave Americans Less Safe and Increase Costs for State and Local... - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- From health care for undocumented immigrants to AI regulations, Republicans want to use federal funding threats to change blue state policies -... - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Republicans Say Tax Cuts Will Spur Growth. It Hasnt Worked in the Past. - The New York Times - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Trump hosts event to rally Republicans behind his megabill - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Republicans are racing to make Zohran Mamdani the face of the Democratic Party - Politico - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans Say Theyre Totally Happy With Limits on Nationwide Injunctions - NOTUS - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Senate Republicans eye weekend votes on Trump's massive bill - NBC Boston - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Republicans incite fascist threats, demand investigation and deportation of Zohran Mamdani after NYC primary win - World Socialist Web Site - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- 5 House Republicans say they will vote against GOP megabill over public land sales - The Hill - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Opinion: Why Republicans are defending this lucrative Medicaid scam - MarketWatch - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]