washington president donald j. trump plan increase u.s. defense spend 54 billion next year series recent report defense department inspector general government accountability office say pentagon account systems struggle track money spend report find pentagon remain unable accurately track 591 billion annual budget experience billions dollars account gap errors year despite two decades reform efforts take together report show many endemic account problems expose 2013 reuters investigative series remain place deficiencies affect department defense ability auditable financial statements feb. government accountability office gao report find also affect ability make sound decisions missions operations spokesman white house office management budget omb say confident defense secretary jam mattis would properly spend additional fund need replenish military bolster american security unquestioned important priority president omb communications director john czwartacki say statement believe secretary mattis deploy resources effective efficient way possible critics wasteful pentagon spend say increase defense department budget unwise department unable account already ludicrous say mandy smithberger director straus military reform project washington reform go happen long spigot turn on pentagon continue account problems draw particular scrutiny defense department face congressionally mandate legal deadline sept. 30 2017 become ready first audit ever unlike every u.s. government department pentagon never undergo audit financial record disarray spokesman defense department comptroller office say confident meet deadline department commit track ready undergo full financial statement audit fiscal year 2018 lieutenant colonel eric d. badger say email time trump propose boost defense spend call deep cut areas white house summary propose 2018 budget show whether congress accept reject trump proposals unclear trump call cut state department budget 10.1 billion 28 among things u.s. payments support unite nations would cut environmental protection agency epa would take particularly big hit trump would cut 2.6 billion 31 budget white house document say budget would eliminate 50 epa program cut epa research development budget 233 million 52 budget grant state lead clean-up would cut 30 9.8 million recent watchdog report defense department find lack unify function account system reuters report 2013 series pentagon hundreds independent systems build ad hoc date 1970s riddle errors incapable share accurate data billions dollars disappear account record military spend large sum build new systems mean solve problem far march 16 defense department inspector general report say navy could find record back spend 866 million first quarter 2016 u.s. military operations afghanistan report say result way know money actually use navy spokeswoman lieutenant kara yingling refer reuters navy official response report say navy agree inspector general conclusions say account problems fix begin use new computer system 2019. yingling say navy track help pentagon meet sept. 30 audit deadline feb. gao report say pentagon continue bookkeeping errors affect federal government whole defense spend make large part federal budget department unreliable data skew account entire u.s. government gao say report note defense department gao list high risk entities represent threats federal government financial well-being since 1995. report say pentagon remain list long-standing deficiencies financial management systems gao report note pentagon hire large independent account firm military service try help meet sept. 30 audit deadline report say firm find many problems ability pentagon meet deadline remain doubt separate defense department inspector general report issue march 23 2017 find army continue unable balance checkbook report conclude problem army grow bad 2016. report say october 2015 army 177,921 discrepancies monthly number rise steadily 790,551 june 2016. report give dollar amount months army spokesman wayne hall say number discrepancies continue increase 2017 plan fix computer systems yet make say army work build reliable systems report say rule require army number exactly match monthly report treasury army defense finance account service must find way make match solution enter made-up number make appear falsely army number match report say march 2016 1.9 billion force balance entries hall say army must make number match federal rule separate report inspector general find military service also problems balance financial number treasury accountants interview reuters say large discrepancies would consider account fraud corporate world badger spokesman defense department comptroller office say errors military service unintentional strongly oppose accusation intentionally misrepresent book badger say email many manual account adjustments often cause ineffective design legacy business financial systems trump say 54 billion increase defense spend send message world dangerous time american strength security resolve trump also vow negotiate cheap contract defense contractors problem also cite recent watchdog report march 2016 report inspector general find air force spend billions contract maintain one type jet engine without first get idea fair price open-ended contract guarantee profit margin regardless cost award 2011. report say sign contract air force obtain data actual cost repair cost compare private-sector rat exact amount contract redact report inspector general rule march 2016 freedom information act request file reuters ask redact information make public trump seek defense-spending boost watchdogs cite faulty pentagon account