Who it affects
- Defense Department
- Defense departments, agencies, and other units without clean audits
- Programs, projects, and activities within those units
In committeeMilitaryGovernment spending
Audit the Pentagon Act
S. 5185 · Senate bill · Introduced July 30, 2026
The Audit the Pentagon Act would require 2% spending cuts for Defense Department units that do not receive a clean audit of their full financial statements.
At a glance
Where it stands
In committee
How South Carolina voted
No recorded votes yet.
See each vote ↓Lobbying and money
No lobbying reported yet
Lobbyists report every three months, about 20 days after each quarter ends. We have January 2025 through September 2026 reports. Newer reports will be added once filed and published.
What it would do
- The Defense Department must identify units whose full financial statements did not receive a clean audit.
- A clean audit means an auditor finds the financial statements fair and accurate.
- The audit covers the calendar year ending during that fiscal year.
- Each identified unit must lose 2% of its available funding in the fiscal year the determination is made.
- The cuts must apply proportionally across each unit’s programs, projects, and activities.
- The Defense Department must deposit the withheld money in the Treasury’s general fund to reduce the deficit.
Written with AI from the official summary by Congress's research office.
How South Carolina voted
No recorded roll-call vote on this bill yet.
Groups that lobbied on it and gave to SC's members
PAC, lobbyist campaign and qualifying employee money this election, shown separately and never added together. Lobbying reports name the bills a group worked on, not which side it took.
No lobbying reported yet. Lobbyists report every three months, about 20 days after each quarter ends. We have January 2025 through September 2026 reports. Newer reports will be added once filed and published.
Official record
Official title, sponsor and status
- Official title
- A bill to provide for auditing of the Pentagon.
- Sponsor
- Sen. Sanders, Bernard (I-VT)
- Introduced
- July 30, 2026
- Cosponsors
- 13
- Committees
- Senate Armed Services Committee
- Latest action
- July 30, 2026 · Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
Official summary from the Congressional Research Service
Audit the Pentagon Act This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to reduce spending for any department, agency, or other DOD element that DOD determines has not achieved an unqualified opinion on its full financial statements for the calendar year ending during that fiscal year. (An unqualified opinio n or clean audit means an auditor has determined the financial statements are presented fairly and provide a true view of an entity’s financial position.) Specifically, the amount available to such department, agency, or element for the fiscal year when the determination is made must be reduced by 2%. Amounts unavailable to such department, agency, or element must be applied on a pro rata basis against each program, project, and activity. DOD must deposit such unavailable amounts in the general fund of the Department of the Treasury for purposes of deficit reduction.
Summary on Congress.gov ↗Everyone who lobbied on this bill (0 groups)
No lobbying report we have loaded names this bill. That doesn't mean no lobbying took place.
Lobbyists report every three months, about 20 days after each quarter ends. We have January 2025 through September 2026 reports. Newer reports will be added once filed and published. Reports for October through December 2026 are due January 20, 2027.