The Marine Corps has already passed a financial audit, and the Defense Department has until 2028 to do the same, the department's comptroller said today during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington.
"The first day we came in, [the audit] was one of the first topics the secretary and I discussed, and he actually just put out a memo with guidance for milestones each fiscal year that the department is going to [meet in order] to achieve the financial audit by 2028 or sooner — as he has challenged us to do," said Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, who is currently performing the duties of the Defense Department comptroller.
MacDonnell noted that in addition to the Marine Corps, two other DOD components have passed an audit.
"Within the next three years, under the secretary's guidance, the remainder of the department will achieve the clean audit opinion," she said.
MacDonnell was joined on Capitol Hill today by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The leaders testified regarding the department's fiscal year 2026 budget.
Earlier this month, the Office of Management and Budget released to Congress President Donald J. Trump's recommendations on FY26 discretionary funding levels.
While a full presidential budget recommendation has not yet been released, the proposal includes an increase in DOD's budget to approximately $961.6 billion, about $113.3 billion higher than the enacted budget for the department in FY25.
"This budget makes historic investments in living conditions, in barracks, in base housing," Hegseth said. "This budget reforms the [permanent change of station] process to reduce the cost and stress of moves for families — we've already seen changes there — and we improve the quality of care provided by our defense health care system."
Hegseth told lawmakers that since January, the department had identified nearly $30 billion in savings, which, along with the FY2026 budget, will be used to focus the department on his top priorities: restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military and reestablishing deterrence.
Included in the FY2026 budget is $25 billion for the Golden Dome missile defense shield for the United States, $62 billion to modernize and sustain America's nuclear forces and $3.5 billion for the F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance aircraft.
The budget also places a significant focus on shipbuilding, with $6 billion in funding to help revitalize the American shipbuilding industry and $47 billion allocated for Navy ship construction.
"The budget significantly increases funds to buy next-generation technology, including autonomous systems, long-range drones, long-range fires and hypersonics," he said. "We will put these capabilities in the hands of our warfighters, ensuring we remain the most lethal force in the world for generations to come."
Caine told senators he believes one of the most important parts of the FY2026 budget is the support it provides to warfighters and their families.
"The budget makes meaningful investments in our service members and their families, improving quality of life, for housing, medical care, and the ever-important moving process," he said. "As our most precious asset, we have to deliver for our people."