Steve Ellis is with Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonprofit known for spotlighting waste with its Golden Fleece Awards, given in 2003 to Republican Congressman Don Young for pushing an infamous $190 million “bridge to nowhere.” His group contributed to a recent report suggesting Pentagon cuts.

Steve Ellis: We were hopeful when DOGE started that they were actually going to target and go into major areas of government spending, but it’s been a little bit scattered.

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Scott Thuman: Steve, looking at defense systems—fighter jets, ships, missiles—are there realistic cuts for balanced savings and national security?

Steve Ellis: You have the F-35, the fighter jet that is only fully operational 30% of the time for all its missions. That’s $12 billion a year that you could save by not buying any more of those. You have the Sentinel, which is the replacement for the intercontinental ballistic missile. It was 31% over budget in 2024. You could get rid of that for $310 billion.