Congress·In Committee·H.R. 7555

Audit the Pentagon Act of 2026

House Bill Would Cut Pentagon Budget for Failed Audits After 8th Straight Accountability Failure

Feb 12·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Next up: A house committee

This bill is currently sitting in the House Committee on Armed Services where it was sent on February 11, 2026. No action has been taken on the proposal since that date, which means it has been stalled for about four months. The committee members must decide whether to hold a vote on the bill before it can move any further.

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 2961 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 2961 (118th) →

Key Points

This bill requires the Department of Defense to pass a full financial audit or face automatic budget cuts. It was introduced after the Pentagon failed its eighth audit in a row in 2025, leaving it unable to account for billions of dollars in assets.
If a specific office or agency within the military fails to get a "clean" audit, its budget would be cut by 0.5% the first year. If they continue to fail in later years, the penalty increases to a 1.0% budget cut.
The money taken away from agencies that fail their audits would be sent to the U.S. Treasury to help reduce the national debt.
To protect those serving in the military, the bill forbids cuts to troop pay, the National Guard, or the Defense Health Program. It also states that vital safety equipment, like body armor, should not be affected by these budget reductions.
The President can stop the budget cuts if they would hurt national security or put troops in combat zones at risk. However, the President must explain exactly why the waiver is needed to Congress.

National Security Foreign PolicyEconomy Finance

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works

Civilian employees of the Department of Defense — roughly 750,000 people — could be affected if their specific agency or office fails its audit and faces automatic budget cuts of 0.5% to 1.0%. While military personnel accounts are protected, civilian workforce funding is not explicitly excluded. Pro-rata cuts across programs could mean reduced hiring, furloughs, or slower operations at Pentagon agencies that don't pass their audits.

-2

ImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

-2

ImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Broader Impacts

DomainScoreShort-termLong-termReversibilityConfidence

Score

Scores: -5 (harmful) to +5 (beneficial)Short-term: 0-2 yearsLong-term: 10-30 years

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Feb 12, 2026House

Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.

Feb 12, 2026

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Related News

5 articles

MeriTalk·Feb 19

Lawmakers Push for Pentagon Audit Accountability

Reps. Mark Pocan and Andy Biggs have introduced the Audit the Pentagon Act of 2026, which calls for 0.5% budget cuts after a first failed audit and 1% in subsequent years. The bill follows the department's eighth consecutive failed audit and includes exceptions for personnel and healthcare.

Center

Military Times·Dec 19, 2025

Pentagon fails financial audit for 8th year in a row

The Pentagon failed its financial audit for the eighth consecutive year in 2025, remaining the only major federal agency never to pass. Auditors identified 26 material weaknesses, including major omissions in the F-35 program, leaving the department unable to account for billions in assets.

Center

Breaking Defense·Dec 19, 2025

Pentagon fails (another) audit, restates 2028 goal to finally pass

The Department of Defense failed its eighth audit in a row, identifying 26 material weaknesses in fiscal 2025. Despite the failure, officials restated a goal for a clean audit by 2028, noting that the department is working to modernize 1,400 business systems to improve data accuracy.

Center

No votes or related bills recorded for this bill yet.