ernie Sanders has praised Elon Musk for his plans to use the new Department of Government Efficiency to oversee and cut defense spending in a move that has shocked netizens and political commentators.
The veteran Democratic Senator from Vermont, who ran for president twice in 2016 and 2020, tweeted hard-hitting criticism at the outgoing Joe Biden administration for managing to "lose track of billions."
In his X post, Sanders said, "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."
"Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud. That must change," he said.
Many Republicans have replied to his post, with Musk responding with two American flag emojis.
Trump's former pick for Attorney General Matt Gaetz who stepped down amid controversy last month, wrote, "Welcome home, Bernie."
Tech billionaire and Space X founder, Musk will be heading the new DOGE committee with Vivek Ramaswamy.
Musk and Ramaswamy's newest office is designed to "dismantle" government bureaucracy and "slash excess regulations, cut wasteful spending, and restructure Federal Agencies."
President-elect Trump was initially branded as a joke for creating DOGE which he dubbed the "Manhattan Project of our time."
Trump confirmed that this unlikely pair will provide external advice to the White House on how to "drive large-scale structural reform."
Sanders joined Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna in his critique of the defense spending and failed audits.
"When it comes to cutting waste, fraud, and abuse and opening the five primes to more competition, there are Democrats on [the House Armed Services Committee] who will work with @elonmusk and @DOGE," Khanna wrote on X.
According to Congress, the Department of Defense must pass an audit by 2028.
