GAO Reports $285 Billion Defense Maintenance Backlog

The U.S. Government Accountability Office reported a $285 billion maintenance backlog across the Department of Defense real estate portfolio for fiscal 2025. The audit identifies systemic neglect of infrastructure, including moldy barracks and crumbling facilities at Minot Air Force Base and Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, which the agency attributes to personnel shortages and insufficient funding.

Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War, warned that the Pentagon bureaucracy risks a Soviet-style decline. He characterized the internal process, rather than the personnel, as the primary adversary. While the department manages a $1 trillion budget, the GAO found that $2.64 billion was diverted from construction and maintenance to fund an increased military presence at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Physical failures have extended to naval assets, exemplified by the USS Gerald R. Ford. The vessel suffered sewage failures, electrical problems, and a laundry room fire that injured more than 200 sailors, eventually requiring the ship to dock for repairs in Greece.