WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte announced Friday she is cosponsoring bipartisan legislation aimed at requiring the Department of Defense to undergo a financial audit.

The “Audit the Pentagon Act,” introduced this week by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., “includes incentives and enforcement mechanisms to encourage the Pentagon to achieve audit readiness,” according to a statement from Ayotte's office.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan investigative news organization, under the bill, military branches that fail to meet a 2017 deadline to complete audits of their expenditures would have the development of weapons systems blocked before reaching the production and deployment stage. The center said the bill would also reward agencies for meeting deadlines by giving them more control over their own budgets, including the ability to shift between $30 million and $60 million annually between accounts to pay for more weapons procurement, operations and maintenance, research or personnel, all without congressional approval.