(Radio Iowa) – American taxpayers shouldn’t be paying 14-thousand-dollars for toilet seats, and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is introducing a bipartisan bill requiring the Pentagon to pass independent audits or face fines. Grassley, a Republican, is offering the bill with Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont. Grassley says national security is the primary responsibility of the federal government, and every dollar spent to keep the country safe should be accounted for clearly.
The Pentagon consumes more than half of the nation’s discretionary budget and controls more than three-trillion dollars in assets, according to the senator, who says the D-O-D “has been plagued by wasteful spending for decades.” Grassley and Sanders first introduced the bill in 2021, and reintroduced it in 2023. Grassley says he’s optimistic the Pentagon brass will comply.
Grassley says his support for the bill is not tied to any current military conflicts. In a statement, he says: “Our bipartisan legislation holds the Defense Department accountable by ensuring it meets the same audit standards as other agencies, or it faces a financial penalty. Any dollar lost by the Department of Defense wastes taxpayers’ money and weakens our national security.”
