WASHINGTON, DC - It isn’t often that far-left Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders (I-VT) agrees with President-elect Donald Trump, but it appears that, at least in one area, Trump may gain some support from Sanders.
The New York Post reports that Sanders, in a post on X, expressed agreement with Trump’s planned Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to be headed by X and Tesla owner Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, under one condition–that it targets the Pentagon’s budget.
“Elon Musk is right. The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, just failed its 7th audit in a row. It’s lost track of billions,” Sanders wrote. Law Enforcement Today recently reported on that issue. “Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud,” Sanders wrote. “That must change.” Shortly after winning the election last month, Trump promised to commission a department headed by Musk and Ramaswamy to root out government waste. He said the department would conclude its work by July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. DOGE is not a government department but an outside agency that coordinates with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget to find and root out waste within the vast federal bureaucracy. Sanders’s criticism of the Pentagon’s budget is nothing new; he has long been a fierce critic of US defense spending, which he has called “bloated and wasteful” while seeking to have its financial resources redirected toward social spending. As reported in Law Enforcement Today last month, the Pentagon failed its seventh independent audit in a row, a development that has drawn bipartisan criticism from Republicans and Democrats. In FY2024, the Pentagon will receive $824.3 billion in taxpayer funds. Despite failing the audit once again, the Pentagon’s chief financial officer, Mike McCord, says that no significant fraud was uncovered in the audit and that it is working toward a “clean” audit, which will be possible several years forward. Another unexpected source of support for at least some of DOGE’s work came from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who last week said that Democrats are willing to collaborate on targeting wasteful spending–at least in the Department of Defense. “When it comes to cutting waste, fraud, abuse and opening the 5 primes to more competition, there are Democrats on [the House Armed Services Committee] who will work with @elonmusk and @DOGE,” he posted on X. Likewise, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) said that DOGE should also consider reevaluating the structure of the Department of Homeland Security. Despite calls to slash DoD funding, President-elect Trump has long advocated an expanded military, which would require increased defense spending unless areas for significant cuts can be identified. In response to Sanders’ post, Musk posted several American flag emojis, while his super PAC wrote, “Sensible spending is not a partisan issue. The general public supports @DOGE, holding the government accountable for spending taxpayer money more wisely.” Sanders’ X post drew responses from some of his long-time critics. “Welcome home, Bernie,” wrote former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). “Has hell frozen over?” wrote End Wokeness. Trending Politics co-owner Collin Rugg wrote, “Glad you realized Elon Musk is not the problem. The problem is the federal government, which has wasted and lost trillions of dollars of taxpayer money.” The Post wrote that Ramaswamy and Musk have said that DOGE will “take a sledgehammer” to government red tape while spurring robust economic growth.
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