WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last Night, two amendments offered by Congressman David Schweikert (AZ-01) were adopted into the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026. Both provisions advance the integration and utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) into key Department of Defense (DoD) systems to reduce waste, increase transparency, and strengthen national security.

“The Pentagon has failed every audit since 2018 and remains unauditable, despite operating with a nearly $900 billion discretionary budget,” said Rep. Schweikert. “Artificial intelligence can already track, list, and locate Department of Defense assets. It is time we put that technology to work.”

Amendment 620 directs the DoD to utilize AI during the auditing of its financial statements. The amendment builds on Rep. Schweikert’s earlier legislation, H.R. 7603, which seeks to ensure the Department achieves a clean audit for the first time in its history.

While Congress first mandated a comprehensive audit framework in 2010 with a statutory goal for audit readiness by 2017, DoD has yet to achieve a clean audit. In 2022, the DoD’s failed audit cost taxpayers $900 million, with half spent on the audit itself and the other half on fixing the issues it revealed. This amendment reinforces the DoD’s obligation to meet the clean audit deadline set in 2024 and gives the DoD the tools to get there.

Amendment 621 requires the DoD to leverage AI in managing its weapons inventory systems, which has historically been inefficient and inaccurate. A 1990 GAO report found the DoD returned 8.5 percent of materials it had over procured between 1981 and 1984. Recent investigations by the Pentagon Office of Inspector General found that 67 percent of weapons systems in storage had critical care deficiencies, and nearly $1.3 billion worth of inventory was improperly stored.

The problem has only grown. GAO now estimates 58 percent of the Pentagon’s material holdings are unnecessary. The Navy lost track of $3 billion in equipment over three years, and one facility had a 122,000-item backlog. The DoD’s $600 billion inventory also failed to account for billions in Army communications gear, Navy aircraft engines, and Air Force pods.

“Without accurate inventory data, the Pentagon cannot make responsible procurement decisions,” Rep. Schweikert added. “This amendment ensures that taxpayer dollars are being used to produce the tools we actually need to defend this country, not funding more waste and backlog.”

The amendments represent a continuation of Rep. Schweikert’s longstanding efforts to modernize federal operations through innovation, while safeguarding the fiscal future of the United States.