They may not agree on much, but when it comes to Pentagon spending, Sen. Bernie Sanders and billionaire Elon Musk are aligned.
Sanders, who usually makes enemies of billionaires like Musk, posted on X Sunday, “Elon Musk is right.
Congress has mandated that the Defense Department must pass an audit by fiscal year 2028.
Surprisingly, defense spending isn’t the only issue where Sanders and Musk agree.
Responding to a video of Sanders pointing out his agreement with Musk on making these drugs less expensive, Musk wrote on X, “I really am with Bernie on this one.”
Although they may not share many opinions, Sen. Elon Musk and Bernie Sanders share a common goal.
On X Sunday, Sanders, who frequently criticizes billionaires like Musk, wrote, “Elon Musk is right.”. The $886 billion Pentagon recently failed its seventh consecutive audit. It has lost billions of dollars. The Military Industrial Complex and a defense budget rife with fraud and waste were opposed by just 13 senators last year. That has to be altered. “.”.
Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur, were appointed by Donald Trump to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Lawmakers on the left who are willing to collaborate with DOGE to cut defense spending are not limited to Sanders. Rep. Mo Khanna criticized the Department of Defense for its “waste, fraud, and abuse,” pointing out that its audits had failed.
In a post on X, Musk’s platform, Khanna stated, “There are Democrats on [the House Armed Services Committee] who will work with @elonmusk and @DOGE when it comes to cutting waste, fraud, and abuse and opening the 5 primes to more competition.”.
“Nice!” Musk replied to Khanna on X.
The Defense Department must complete an audit by fiscal year 2028, per a mandate from Congress. Pentagon said it is still working toward a clean audit by the congressional deadline, despite the department’s seventh failed audit last month, which meant it was once again unable to account for all of its spending.
Sanders and Musk agree on a number of issues, surprisingly not just defense spending. Both have expressed support for lowering the cost of medications used to treat diabetes and weight loss, such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
Sanders, the current Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chair, questioned Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, during a hearing on Capitol Hill, “From a moral perspective, does it bother you knowing that keeping the price of Ozempic and Wegovy so high in the United States could lead to the preventable deaths of tens of thousands of Americans?”.
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According to an investigation headed by Sanders, the list price for a four-week supply of Ozempic in the U.S. A. It costs just under $1,000, but in other countries, a four-week supply can be purchased for less than $200. Wegovy for four weeks in the U.S. S. is more than $1,300, whereas drugs of the same quantity cost less than $200 in other countries.
As Sanders has noted, generic producers can make money by charging only $100 per month for generic Ozempic.
The highest monthly prices in the world are charged to Americans by Novo Nordisk, which has made almost $50 billion in sales from Ozempic and Wegovy. “Excessive corporate greed is the reason,” Sanders stated.
In response to a video that showed Sanders highlighting his agreement with Musk to lower the cost of these medications, Musk wrote on X, “I truly agree with Bernie on this one. “”.
