Elon Musk's mission to cut US federal spending for Donald Trump is being accepted by a surprising group in Washington: Democrats looking for an opportunity to cut defense spending and cut red tape.
Top politicians, including Senators Bernie Sanders and John Fetterman and a growing number of House Democrats, have expressed support for parts of Musk's government efficiency campaign, which includes a pledge to cut $2 trillion in annual spending.
“Defense contractors have been plundering the American people for too long,” Ro Khanna, a California Democrat whose district includes parts of Silicon Valley, told the Financial Times. Khanna said he was “ready to work with Musk to rein in wasteful spending at the Pentagon.”
The influential congressman's statements came after Sanders sparked a dispute among voters Democrats By saying that Musk was “right” to target defense spending.
“The Pentagon, with a budget of $886 billion, has failed its seventh consecutive audit. “Billions have been wasted,” the Vermont senator, who has long campaigned against corruption in what he calls the “military-industrial complex,” recently wrote. Only 13 senators voted against “a defense budget full of waste and fraud” and “this must change.”
MuskShe, who was tapped with Trump to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, has floated plans to shutter entire agencies and fire hundreds of thousands of civil servants, angering critics on the left.
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But Sanders, an icon of the progressive movement, also appears to endorse the billionaire's complaints about health care costs in the United States, albeit from a different perspective. “We waste hundreds of billions a year on health care administrative expenses that make insurance executives and wealthy shareholders incredibly rich,” the senator said.
Fetterman, a Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, recently expressed his admiration for Musk, saying the Tesla chief “made our economy and our nation better.” Musk said it was “hard not to like” the senator.
Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz this month became the first Democrat to join Dougie's caucus in the House, saying the Department of Homeland Security “has gotten too big.” Ohio Democratic Representative Greg Landsman also joined the group, saying “you want to be in the room” where discussions about government spending take place.
Moskowitz attended the inaugural Dougie Caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in mid-December, along with Democrats Stephen Horsford and Val Howell.
Howell, who represents a district in Oregon, justified her decision to join the group by saying: “Anyone who thinks there are no opportunities to make government more efficient and effective does not live in the real world.” She said Doge was “not a partisan issue.”
Horsford, who represents a district in Nevada, said he attended the caucus meeting “to have a seat at the table during conversations about streamlining government programs and cutting waste.”
Democrats have also tried to identify points of divergence from Musk's vision.
Khanna told the Financial Times that he would “strongly oppose any cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or programs like Medicare, Social Security, and veterans benefits.” Horsford said he appreciated that “Republicans made it clear (at the party meeting) that they would not propose cuts” in such areas.
Hoyle said that while she supports “allowing Medicare to negotiate drug pricing or crack down on defense contractors,” she strongly opposes cuts to programs Americans depend on, including Social Security, the Postal Service and the Federal Aviation Administration.
“The math won't really make sense” unless he cuts Social Security, Medicare and Veterans Affairs, Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, said of Musk's $2 trillion goal. Together, these resources represent nearly two-thirds of the US government's $6.5 trillion budget.
To achieve its goals, Dougie will have to “go after a significant portion of not only military spending but also safety net spending,” Moynihan said. “You simply can't get $2 trillion without tough cuts to government, including to very popular services like the Department of Veterans Affairs.”
Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky questioned the political wisdom of backing Dougie, who Musk will run alongside former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, another wealthy businessman and “anti-woke” advocate.
“You have two inexperienced billionaires effectively trying to use a sledgehammer against the government, which is funding very popular programs,” she said. “I don't think Democrats should get anywhere close to that.”
