Bernie Sanders says 'Elon Musk is right' about needing 'change' in military spending

Brendan Rascius, Lexington Herald-Leader on Dec 2, 2024

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U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has been a frequent critic of Elon Musk, clashing with the billionaire on numerous issues, including wealth inequality, foreign relations and space travel.

But, now the pair are on the same page — at least when it comes to one issue.

“Elon Musk is right,” Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats from Vermont, wrote in a Dec. 1 post on X, formerly Twitter.

“The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, just failed its 7th audit in a row. It’s lost track of billions,” he 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 responded to the post with American flag emojis, and wrote in a separate post, “Maybe we can find some common ground.”

In November, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO was tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

DOGE will “provide advice and guidance from outside of government and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform,” the president-elect wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Musk, along with co-head Vivek Ramaswamy, plans to dramatically reduce the size of the federal government by recommending spending cuts and layoffs.

In a Nov. 20 opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, the pair singled out the Department of Defense, writing, “The Pentagon recently failed its seventh consecutive audit, suggesting that the agency’s leadership has little idea how its annual budget of more than $800 billion is spent.”

Musk has also taken aim at the Pentagon’s spending on fighter jets.

On Nov. 24, he posted a video on X of a drone swarm, which he captioned, “Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35…”

However, the billionaire will likely face staunch opposition to any proposed cuts to the military.

As Sanders noted, this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — which authorizes annual spending for the Pentagon — passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate.

Eighty-six senators voted in favor, while just 11 voted against it, according to CNN. In a more party-line vote, the bill’s counterpart in the House passed 219-210, with all but four GOP representatives voting in favor.

In past years, the NDAA has also passed with little opposition.

A spokesperson for the Department of Defense declined to comment on Sanders’ and Musk’s statements. But they pointed to recent comments made by DOD Comptroller Michael McCord, who said the department is on track to pass an audit by 2028.

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