10 U.S.C. § 240d — Audits: audit of financial statements of Department of Defense components by independent external auditors

(a) Audits Required: To satisfy the audit requirement in section 3521(e) of title 31 for Department of Defense components that the OMB Director identifies under section 3515(c) of that title, the DoD Inspector General must arrange, every year, for an independent external auditor to audit each such component's financial statements.

(b) Selection of Auditors: Independent external auditors are picked based on, among other things, their qualifications, independence, and ability to run audits that meet accepted government auditing standards. The Inspector General takes part in choosing them.

(c) Monitoring Audits: The Inspector General must oversee how the independent external auditors conduct every audit under (a).

(d) Reports on Audits. (1) In general: The Inspector General must require these auditors to report on their audits each year to (A) the Comptroller, acting as the Department's Chief Financial Officer^*; (B) the Controller of OMB's Office of Federal Financial Management; (C) the head of each audited component; and (D) the appropriate congressional committees. (2) "Appropriate committees of Congress" means (A) the Senate Armed Services, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Appropriations Committees; and (B) the House Armed Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and Appropriations Committees.

(e) Relationship to Existing Law: This section (1) doesn't change the rule in section 3521(e) of title 31 that the Department's overall financial statements must be audited by the Inspector General or an independent auditor, as the Inspector General decides; and (2) doesn't limit or change the Comptroller General's powers under section 3521(g) of title 31.