On Monday’s “CNN Newsroom,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) stated that he believes there can be bipartisan support in Congress if the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) says “there needs to be more open competition, not the monopolization in defense contractors, and propose recommendations,” and noted that the Pentagon has yet to pass any one of the multiple audits it has faced.
Khanna said, “Well, ultimately, they’re going to provide recommendations. It’s Congress that appropriates money. Let me provide an area where there could…be bipartisan collaboration: The defense budget, which is nearly a trillion dollars, is dominated by five primes. There has been tremendous reporting about the waste, fraud, and abuse in that budget. The Pentagon hasn’t passed an audit and has failed the last six or seven audits. So, if they go to say there needs to be more open competition, not the monopolization in defense contractors, and propose recommendations, that’s something that I think could be supported. If they find areas of truly wasteful spending across the government, they would get support. But if they start to recommend cuts in Social Security or Medicare or Title I education funding, they’ll face strong resistance. So, it really just depends what they recommend.”
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