(NewsNation) — Billionaire Elon Musk, senior adviser to President Donald Trump, is set to audit the nation’s largest government agency, and the Pentagon is already being asked to come up with lists of potential cuts.
The audit comes as Senate Republicans take the first steps in creating the shell of a bill that will end up moving forward Trump’s biggest policies when it comes to spending. Those include border policy, energy policy and national defense.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is telling the Pentagon it needs to find around $50 billion in cuts, which is 8% of the defense budget of more than $800 billion.
Watch live: Kash Patel faces senators at confirmation hearing
The agency has been ordered to find cuts or offsets that would provide some funding back to the government.
There may be bipartisan support for this particular round of cuts, as Democrats have talked about needing to scale down the Pentagon budget in the past.
Many Republicans, however, have opposed those cuts in the past, and it remains to be seen whether the Trump administration will be able to change their minds.
Hegseth has put forward a list of exemptions that will not be cut, but everything else seems to be up for grabs.
IRS to lay off 6,700 probationary workers
At the same time, there is also conflict over the role of the military in Trump’s deportation plans.
Last night, NewsNation reported on a letter from Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., to Hegseth over concerns that medical military units usually stationed at bases in the U.S. are going to be deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The units usually serve service members and families on bases and include professionals like OB-GYNs and pediatricians.
The Pentagon has not yet responded to the concerns.
