If you ever needed proof that the Wes Moore administration is running Maryland like a college group project where half the team doesn’t know the assignment and the other half forgot it was due… look no further than the latest report from the Office of Legislative Audits.
Maryland Matters just delivered a beautiful, unintentionally comedic masterpiece: over one-third of all state audit problems this year are “repeat findings.” Yes repeat. Meaning someone screwed up once, got caught, promised they’d fix it… and then absolutely did not fix it. In fact, in some agencies, they didn’t fix it again. And again.
It’s like the government version of “Groundhog Day,” except in this version, Bill Murray is replaced by a room full of Democratic agency heads shrugging while papers catch fire around them.
You Had One Job… For the Third Time
The article notes that 34% of all agency audit findings are repeats, up from about 27% a few years ago. Under Wes Moore, the rate of déjà vu dysfunction is accelerating. At this point, the auditors should just publish their annual findings as a laminated checklist titled:
“Stuff We Told You Last Time But You Ignored Again.”
Better yet, Maryland should stop calling them “repeat findings.”
A more accurate name would be: “Please Fix This Before Something Explodes.”
Because we’re not talking about harmless clerical mistakes. We’re talking about:
- Missing oversight
- Blown deadlines
- Children in foster care are not getting medical checkups
- Delayed child abuse investigations
- Procurement oversight that’s so loose it makes Amazon shopping sprees look responsible
Maryland Matters politely calls this “concerning.”
Most Marylanders would call it “Tuesday.”
Delegated Procurement: AKA ‘We Let Agencies Spend Money, Then Cross Our Fingers’
The auditor also found that 20% of issues involve delegated procurement, meaning the state gave agencies the purchasing authority of a Fortune 500 company but the oversight capacity of a lemonade stand run by toddlers.
If you gave your 5-year-old a Costco card and a blank check, you might get better documentation.
The auditor gently suggested that when agencies repeatedly show they can’t manage delegated power responsibly… maybe the state should “take back the keys.”
Take back the keys?
Based on this track record, maybe Maryland needs to take away the whole car, the garage, and the driveway.
Wes Moore’s Administration: Powered by Empty Promises and Post-It Note Reminders
What makes this even more absurd is that the audit office specifically says the problem isn’t a lack of audits it’s lack of fixing anything. Translation:
“We keep pointing at the fire, and the Wes Moore administration keeps taking notes about how interesting the flames look.”
Maryland Matters quotes Legislative Auditor Brian Tanen basically pleading with the government to fix something, anything. He sounds like a substitute teacher begging a room of kids to stop throwing crayons. You can almost hear the despair.
And yet the administration’s response remains what it often is:
inspirational speeches, vague optimism, and absolutely zero measurable improvement.
Wes Moore Inherited a Government Full of Problems Then Added New Ones
Wes Moore promised competence. He promised professionalism. He promised efficiency.
Instead, we got:
- Rising repeated audit failures
- Agencies consistently drop the ball
- No corrective action plans with teeth
- No meaningful accountability
If this is the “Leave No One Behind” leadership he promised, someone might want to tell him that it includes fixing state agencies and not just holding press conferences about them.
A Final Thought for the Moore Administration
Here’s the thing: adults fix mistakes. Children repeat them.
Under Wes Moore, Maryland’s agencies aren’t just repeating mistakes; they’re collecting them like Pokémon cards.
And if the state’s failure to fix basic operational issues continues, no amount of buzzwords, branding exercises, or photogenic press conferences will hide the truth:
Maryland’s government isn’t being run, it’s being managed by vibes.
The Legislative Auditor is sounding the alarm. Maryland Matters is reporting the dysfunction. And taxpayers are footing the bill while the Moore administration shrugs and schedules the next inspirational keynote address.
Maybe next year, Maryland can try something new:
Fix the problems. Even once.
At this point, that alone would be a historic achievement.
Endnotes
- Bryan P. Sears, “Legislative Auditor Concerned About Increase in Repeated Findings in State Agencies,” Maryland Matters, November 19, 2025.
- Office of Legislative Audits (OLA), Annual Report on Audit Findings, Fiscal Year 2025, Maryland General Assembly, cited in Sears, “Legislative Auditor Concerned About Increase in Repeated Findings.”
- Sears, “Legislative Auditor Concerned About Increase in Repeated Findings.”
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.; OLA FY2025 Report.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.; example referenced from OLA audit of the Maryland Department of Human Services, Social Services Administration.
- Sears, “Legislative Auditor Concerned About Increase in Repeated Findings.”
- Ibid.; auditor Brian Tanen comments during a briefing to the Joint Audit & Evaluation Committee.
Jeremy Gordon is a contributor for Direct Line News and can be reached at Jeremy.Gordon@mcgopclub.com
Direct Line News is a Maryland-based free-access publication committed to the Republican reform tradition.
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