Morning Note

The Department of Government Efficiency is preparing to shift its focus to “the head of the snake” when it comes to government waste: the Pentagon.

"We’re going to find billions, hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud and abuse," Donald Trump predicted in an interview on Sunday. He’s almost certainly right.

Reports from the past handful of years have exposed the Pentagon’s unbelievable disregard for the American people’s hard-earned money. 8,000% soap dispenser markups. $1,300 coffee cups. Nearly $30 million on salmon, steak, and lobster. When Uncle Sam yanks money out of your paycheck, that’s where he’s been sending it.

While expenditures like those are somewhat amusing, they represent one of the largest problems plaguing 21st-century Washington: a lack of respect for the American people. No leadership class that actually admires its citizens would allow the Pentagon to light their tax dollars on fire the way it does. Hopefully DOGE puts an end to it.

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