In a rather humorous matter, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report last week that says the Department of Defense consistently fails to meet response deadlines set by the GAO.
In a pathetic public appearance, the Pentagon missed on-time comments and review windows for half of the GAO's investigations and reports so far this year.
The GAO is an independent watchdog that provides non-partisan, fact-based information to Congress, the heads of executive agencies, and the public. The group oversees how the federal government operates and spends its money, and points out where it is doing well and where it can improve.
GAO provides audited agencies with an opportunity to review and comment on draft reports before it issues the final report. The watchdog also asks agencies to review information that may contain classified information.
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The Department of Defense is not so fond of the government-funded watchdog. From December 2022 to May 2023, the executive agency consistently ignored requests for review and comment. The DOD "generally did not meet GAO's deadline for providing agency comments and sensitivity or security reviews, submitting about half of its agency comments and reviews to GAO after the deadline."
The GAO provides 30 days for a response, but the DOD took 34 days on average. The GAO provided an extension for 17 reports, and the DOD failed to meet the extension for eight of the reports.
"For one report, DOD requested multiple extensions but did not meet any of the new deadlines; as a result, GAO had to issue the report without agency comments," the document reads.
Agency comments were included in this most recent report, however, as the DOD decided to reply: "While the Department agrees it has a lot of work to do in improving timeliness, there are also factors that are outside the Department's control."
The agency listed several reasons for the slow response, including staffing demands and too little time, requesting that the GAO increase its 30-day deadline.
The agency essentially admits that it's slow, but to make up for the disruption, it would like a permanent extension. This is far from how the real world works. For jobs outside government, deadlines mean something, and if employees don't stick to them, there are punishments; that concept doesn't seem to apply to government bureaucrats.
The DOD's blatant disregard toward the GAO is a complete disservice to the American people. The GAO seeks transparency, and the DOD prefers murky waters.
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