Voz media US Voz.us
Apple store Voz-media Play store Voz Media

Trump tasked Elon Musk with auditing Pentagon spending: 'We’re going to go through everything'

The president said the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was going to find "some things that are pretty bad."

Musk heads Department of Government Efficiency/ Angela Weiss

Musk heads Department of Government Efficiency/ Angela WeissAFP

Joaquín Núñez
Published by
Joaquín Núñez

Donald Trump tasked Elon Musk with overhauling Pentagon spending. The president spoke about this during a press conference held in the framework of the visit of the prime minister of Japan to the White House. According to Trump, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) "will find some things that are pretty bad."

President Trump met with Shigeru Ishiba, marking his second official meeting with a foreign leader since his return to power on January 20.

In the middle of the press conference, a reporter asked him if Elon Musk would be in charge of reviewing Pentagon spending, to which Trump replied the following, "Pentagon, Education, just about everything. We’re going to go through everything."

">

"I’ve instructed him to go check out Education, to check out the Pentagon, which is the military. And, you know, sadly, you’ll find some things that are pretty bad," added Trump, who recently posted on Truth Social that his goal is to balance the budget.

Indeed, the last time the U.S. had a surplus budget, i.e. more revenue than outlays, was in fiscal year 2001. In an interview with VOZ, Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) asserted that lawmakers currently have no incentive to balance the budget. "If you don't pass a balanced budget, you shouldn't get paid. It's that simple. Start hitting members of Congress in the pocketbook," he noted.

Which federal agency is the most expensive?

According to official data, the Defense Department has the third largest budget of the entire federal government, behind only the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

In fact, the Treasury Department accounts for 28.8% of the budget, followed by 21.8% for HHS and 15.8% for the Pentagon.

In turn, the Pentagon turns out to be the biggest beneficiary of government discretionary spending, with some $806 billion in 2023.

"Democrats scream like Musk stole their dog"

After Trump and Ishiba's press conference was over, SenatorJohn Kennedy (R-LA) was asked on Fox News about the work of the DOGE led by Elon Musk.

The Louisiana senator responded with his characteristic eloquence and took aim at Democrats for being outraged as the DOGE looks for unnecessary spending in the federal government.

"A lot of my Democratic colleagues and most of the members of the tofu crowd are very upset, they're screaming like Musk stole their dog or something. But one thing they are not talking about is what Mr. Musk is finding. I mean, just at the USAID, he found hundreds of millions, maybe billions of dollars worth of spending porn," he said.

tracking