The Pentagon has done it again. For the seventh year in a row, the Department of Defense (DoD) failed its audit. With a jaw-dropping $886 billion budget, the Pentagon cannot account for where a massive chunk of its money goes.
That’s nearly a trillion dollars—gone, untracked, unaccounted for. Yet every year, politicians demand more funding for this black hole of a budget, telling taxpayers to just fork over the cash, no questions asked.
This is beyond wasteful. It’s insulting. Americans are fed up with watching their hard-earned tax dollars disappear into a void of inefficiency and corruption.
How can we trust a government that demands trillions yet fails the basic task of bookkeeping? The Pentagon’s failure isn’t just embarrassing; it’s a glaring example of why so many Americans are losing faith in their leaders.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders posted to X on Sunday where he criticized defense spending and agreed with billionaire mogul Elon Musk.
“Elon Musk is right,” Sanders’ post began. “The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, just failed its 7th audit in a row. It’s lost track of billions. Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud. That must change,” he continued. [Source: The Post Millennial]
It’s not just conservatives raising eyebrows. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders called out the Pentagon’s incompetence on social media, agreeing with none other than Elon Musk.
Yes, you read that right—Sanders and Musk are on the same page. “The Pentagon… just failed its 7th audit in a row. It’s lost track of billions,” Sanders wrote. He went on to blast the “Military Industrial Complex” and the 87 senators who voted for a defense budget “full of waste and fraud.”
Now, here’s the kicker: last year, only 13 senators opposed this bloated budget. Apparently, asking the Pentagon to balance its books is too much to ask in Washington.
But don’t worry, your elected officials are already gearing up to approve an even bigger budget next year. Makes sense, right? When you fail at your job, you usually get a raise.
Donald Trump is already rolling out a bold plan to tackle just this kind of waste. He’s appointed billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as heads of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Their mission? Cut the fat, slash unnecessary spending, and finally hold Washington accountable.
Musk, known for turning struggling companies like Tesla and SpaceX into global powerhouses, has a knack for finding efficiency where others see chaos. Ramaswamy, a biotech billionaire and former presidential candidate, shares Trump’s vision of stripping down bloated agencies.
Together, they plan to overhaul the Pentagon’s spending habits and root out the fraud that’s been plaguing the DoD for decades.
Musk has called for major cuts to defense spending. He believes the Pentagon is overdue for a full-scale overhaul, and judging by the audit results, he’s not wrong. Even Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, seems to think Musk is onto something.
In 2022, the Pentagon couldn’t account for 60% of its assets. That’s not a typo. Sixty percent of the DoD’s assets were essentially lost in the system. Imagine a private company operating like this.
The CEO would be fired, the board would resign, and the company would collapse under the weight of lawsuits. But when it’s the government? Business as usual.
In addition to agreeing on Pentagon waste, Sanders has also supported Musk’s stance on public health.
He even quoted Musk in the Senate, saying, “Mr. Musk is right” about solving obesity by making appetite inhibitors widely available. Could this be the start of a new bipartisan era? Probably not, but it’s entertaining while it lasts.
This isn’t just about numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s about trust. When the Pentagon can’t keep track of billions, it erodes confidence in the entire system.
Americans want to believe their leaders are responsible stewards of taxpayer money. Instead, they see waste, fraud, and incompetence.
If Elon can pull off his plan, it won’t just be a win for Trump—it’ll be a win for every American tired of government waste.
Author: Bo Dogan
