‘Who stole his phone?’: Bernie Sanders backs Trump’s DOGE initiative, Elon Musk, netizens react – Times of India

Senator Bernie Sanders showed his support for US President-elect Donald Trump‘s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative on Sunday, focusing on its potential to address Pentagon spending. Sanders raised concerns about the Pentagon’s budget and recent audit failures.
“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 posted on X. He linked his support to the need for change in federal and defence spending. “Last year, only 13 senators voted against the Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget full of waste and fraud. That must change,” he added.

Trump appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE, which aims to identify wasteful spending within the government. The initiative is set to conclude its work by July 4, 2026. DOGE will work with the White House and Office of Management and Budget, but it is not a formal government department.
The Department of Defence recently announced its seventh consecutive audit failure. The department received $824.3 billion in government funding for the 2024 fiscal year. Pentagon officials said that the audit did not reveal significant fraud, as reported by the New York Post.
Sanders has consistently criticised US defense spending. His stance aligns with other progressives who advocate for increased social spending. Representative Ro Khanna also expressed willingness to collaborate on reducing wasteful spending within the Department of Defence. Representative Jared Moskowitz suggested DOGE should also examine the Department of Homeland Security.
As a claimed leftist and working-class advocate with close ties to the Democratic Party, Sanders’ support for DOGE, a new policy under the Trump administration, sparked mixed reactions on social media platform X, with responses from Elon Musk, Matt Gaetz and netizens.

Furthermore, Musk’s America super PAC said, “Sensible spending is not a partisan issue. The general public supports DOGE holding government accountable to spend taxpayer money more wisely.”