President Donald J. Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has Democrats tied in knots.
Their reaction recalls a viral meme from Trump’s first term: a fake newspaper headline declaring “Trump Cures Cancer,” followed by an image of protesters defending cancer against him. That absurdity resurfaced for me while watching House Democrats rallying to shield the millions squandered by USAID—funds DOGE has targeted for the chopping block.
Perhaps the most memorable – and ignorant – attack on DOGE and Elon Musk came from the Democrat Marcy Kaptur, who said, "Mr. Musk has just been here 22 years, and he’s a citizen of three countries. I always ask myself the question, with the damage he’s doing here, when push comes to shove, which country is his loyalty to? South Africa? Canada? Or the United States? And he’s only been a citizen, I’ll say again, 22 years."
Let’s get this straight: the Democrats want an open border to allow any criminal to come across the border unvetted but attack a legal immigrant who became an American citizen and employs thousands of his fellow citizens.
Then, there was the dark comedy routine of Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who appeared on the Charlamagne tha God's radio show. There, she twisted herself into a mental pretzel, arguing that there is no waste in government and then suggested that DOGE is ignoring the waste and fraud of the Pentagon.
Makes sense, huh?
But America’s financial situation is no laughing matter. With a national debt soaring past $35 trillion and a military budget that dwarfs the combined spending of the rest of the world, it’s time for a comprehensive audit of every agency and department in the federal government, including the Pentagon.
Here’s where Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE come into play. The Pentagon commands a colossal portion of America’s finances—over $850 billion annually, more than half of the discretionary budget and nearly three percent of GDP. It’s a behemoth that outspends the combined defense spending of the next ten nations, yet its return on investment is increasingly dubious.
This isn’t speculation—it’s fact, underscored by the Pentagon’s repeated failure to pass a basic audit. In 2018, it faced its first-ever full financial audit, a Herculean task involving 1,200 auditors combing through its books. The result? A colossal failure.
The Defense Department couldn’t account for billions, with vast discrepancies that led auditors to throw up their hands—$6.5 trillion in transactions was untraceable in a 2016 snapshot alone. By 2023, after six consecutive failed audits, the Pentagon still couldn’t produce a clean balance sheet. This isn’t just sloppy bookkeeping; it’s a systemic refusal to face the music, shielding waste and fraud behind a wall of complexity and obfuscation.
We do not know where trillions have gone, but we know that billions are wasted on programs and failed weapons projects.
The F-35 fighter jet is the poster child of Pentagon excess. This "joint strike fighter" was supposed to revolutionize air combat—stealthy, versatile, and lethal. Instead, it’s a trillion-dollar lesson in how not to build a weapon. Conceived in the 1990s, the program has ballooned to a staggering $1.7 trillion over its lifetime, with each jet costing over $100 million before maintenance.
Yet, after two decades, it’s plagued by delays, design flaws, and performance issues. A 2023 Government Accountability Office report found that the F-35’s reliability is so poor that it is mission-capable only about half the time. For a nation that prides itself on military might, this is unacceptable. Imagine if Tesla rolled out a car that broke down every other trip—Musk would scrap it, not double down.
The F-35 isn’t an outlier; it’s a symptom. The Pentagon’s track record is littered with programs that hemorrhage cash while delivering subpar results. The Zumwalt-class destroyer, a $22 billion experiment with futuristic guns that never got affordable ammo—each round was projected to cost $800,000. This is not an isolated misstep; these reflect a culture of unchecked spending and zero accountability where Congress has done nothing but appropriate more funds to them.
Rep. Crockett might not be able to put a cogent argument against DOGE, but she isn’t wrong that the Pentagon must be included in the list of entities to be examined. It is too big, expensive, and bureaucratic to believe it won’t be a honeypot of fraud and abuse.
Every dollar wasted on programs like the F-35 that sits in a hangar is a dollar not spent on veterans, debt reduction, infrastructure, or tax cuts. Trump’s dealmaking abilities and DOGE’s mission make them the trio to hold the Pentagon accountable, finally. It’s time to roll up our sleeves, audit every cent, gut the waste, and rebuild a military that’s lean, lethal, and loyal to the American taxpayer—not the contractors. The clock’s ticking—let’s get to work.
Edward Woodson is a lawyer, political commentator, and host of "The Edward Woodson Show," which airs weekdays on WZAB and streams online at EdwardWoodson.com