Bernie Sanders takes aim at defense spending: 'Elon Musk is right'
The two men President-elect Donald Trump tapped to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency may have an unlikely ally in Sen. Bernie Sanders, the progressive independent from Vermont.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy have laid out plans to slash government spending with the new department including mass firings of federal workers. Sanders has not voiced support for such a policy and instead shifted the conversation to what he considers excessive defense spending in a post to social media Sunday.
"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. "Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud. That must change."
Musk reposted Ramaswamy's response in which he said, "Cutting waste is not a partisan idea."
Why did the Pentagon fail its audit?
The Department of Defense's audit this year technically resulted in a "disclaimer of opinion," meaning it failed to provide sufficient information for auditors to form an accurate opinion. Since it became legally obligated to carry them out in 2018, the Pentagon has never passed an audit.
However, its leaders stress they are improving transparency and intend to receive a clean audit by 2028, as now mandated by the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.
"Despite the disclaimer of opinion, which was expected, the Department has turned a corner in its understanding of the depth and breadth of its challenges," Under Secretary of Defense and Chief Financial Officer Michael McCord said in a November statement.
How do Sanders' and Musk's views compare?
Sanders typically does not agree with Musk on much. Known for his critique of billionaires, he endorsed President Joe Biden in the 2024 race and has long been a vocal critic of the president-elect. However, when Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Trump in November, he issued a statement slamming Democrats for defending the status quo when Americans "are angry and want change."
Cuts to military spending has not appeared to be top of mind for Musk, whose private companies Tesla and SpaceX benefit from federal contracts with the Defense Department. However, he criticized manned F-35 fighter jets last week, resulting in decreased stock values for American defense contractors.
Instead, he, Ramaswamy, and many of those tapped to join Trump's second administration have been focused on attacking what they refer to as "the deep state" and money spent employing government bureaucrats.
Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@usatoday.com and follow her on X @rachelbarber_