Update on February 20 at 12:44 pm EST: According to a statement from Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert G. Salesses, Hegseth’s order will not actually cut spending but offset spending from certain programs to fund priorities of the Trump administration.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered Pentagon leaders to develop plans to make sweeping cuts to the Defense Department’s budget, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
According to a memo obtained by the Post, Hegseth’s order calls for an 8% cut to the Pentagon budget each year for five years. The Pentagon budget for 2025 is about $850 billion, and an 8% cut for five years would bring it down to roughly $560 billion, a reduction of $290 billion.
Hegseth wants the proposed cuts to be drawn up by February 24, and the memo included a list of 17 categories that would be exempt from the spending cuts.
The Post report said the exemptions include operations at the southern border, modernization of nuclear weapons and missile defense, and acquisition of submarines, one-way attack drones, and other munitions.
The Pentagon has also been targeted by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the Trump administration ordered the Pentagon to hand over a list of its probationary employees with the expectation that many may be fired, which came as DOGE workers arrived at the Pentagon.
The news of the plan to cut the Pentagon budget comes after President Trump suggested he wanted a major reduction in US military spending, saying he wanted to cut it in half as part of a deal with Russia and China.
While the Pentagon budget for 2025 is about $850 billion, total US military and national security spending for the year is expected to reach $1.77 trillion, according to veteran defense analyst Winslow Wheeler.
Wheeler’s estimate accounts for military-related spending from other government agencies not funded by the National Defense Authorization Act, such as the Department of Veteran Affairs and Homeland Security. It also includes the national security share of the interest accrued on the US debt and other factors.
re: possible Pentagon budget cuts
The Congress wants to go the other way
Feb 12, 2025 · Congressional Republicans are pushing for at least $100 billion in additional defense spending during the next decade to boost the military’s budget
In the end what it comes down to is that the cuts in some areas will be used to bolster other areas in the military.
Trump has repeatedly said that he wants a "strong" military. Well you don't get that for free. So they will cut form items like$1,000 for a toilet seat or $500 hammer and shove it right back to the MIC.
But all that cutting sounds very good for the public. Back in the early Seventies I worked in a large hospital's building/maintenance department and worked with my boss on the yearly budget. The stuff that went on about cutting and shoving stuff into other areas to please both the public and the big bosses was "very creative"
"re: possible Pentagon budget cuts…Congress wants to go the other way"
1/ Trump and Hegsith are both on record for bigger budget, as I gave links for on antiwar thread here:
"Trump Says Military Spending Could Be Cut in Half and That There’s No Reason To Build New Nukes"
2/ Idea is evidently 'targeted' cuts – in some indefinite future, to nuclear bomb production, and in DOGE-style worker cuts – even as total military budget escalates for costly new programs:
'See? We cut wasteful government human bureaucracy so we could spend more on important stuff.'
3/ Big picture is the AI-ization not just of the job of the guy in India you talk to when you pay yr electric bill – but of segments of the whitecollar work force. Both in and out of govt. So way beyond phone pad 'menu choices.'
And tomorrow the MAGA Senate votes to confirm Kash Patel as Director of the FBI. Full speed ahead! WINNING on all fronts!
Ending the Ukraiine war would be wonderful. Appropriate spending cuts -wonderful. Reinstating a spoils system-not good.
Restoring confidence in our institutions would be wonderful.
Restoring confidence in rotten institutions would not be wonderful.
"…operations at the southern border, modernization of nuclear weapons and missile defense…"
First point – dumping nuclear weapons altogether would save untold dollars and lives. Ending the 'modernization' pork barrel woul save a trillion dollars.
Second – I thought there was a legal / Constitutional prohibition against the US military acting as law enforcement on US soil ? Can anyone clarify this point for me ?
Military can't be used for policing inside the country; but border protection is certainly doable.
National Guard can intervene inside the USA and has done that in the past. NG is part of the USAF. Beware!
The army is prohibited from enforcing domestic US law by the Posse Comitatus Act of 1868. The Navy and Marine Corps aren’t technically covered by that law, but there are standing orders from the Secretary of the Navy to comply with it as well. Not sure about the Air Force.
Presumably one purpose of trying to torture “immigration” into “invasion” is to be able to pretend that using the military as border thugs and having them abduct immigrants doesn’t violate it.
The National Guards of the states are not, technically, “the US military,” and can be and are used for law enforcement at times.
Is this crap still in effect?
DoD Directive 5240.01, reissued on September 27, 2024.
DoD Directive 5240.01: The stealth expansion of Military Intelligence Powers in life-or-death domestic scenarios
Quick Summary
New provisions: The updated directive expands the circumstances under which the DoD can assist law enforcement, including the use of lethal force.
Assassination explicitly forbidden: While assassination is banned, the new language allows for lethal actions under "imminent threats."
Concerns about civil liberties: The expanded definition of "national security threats" is raising alarms, particularly given DHS’s broader definition of domestic terrorism threats.
High-level approval required: Any intelligence-sharing that could lead to lethal force must be approved by the Secretary of Defense, but Component Heads can act immediately for up to 72 hours before obtaining approval.
https://nexusnewsfeed.com/article/geopolitics/dod-directive-5240-01-the-stealth-expansion-of-military-intelligence-powers-in-life-or-death-domestic-scenarios/
Masses of people cutting down fences and entering another country=invasion.
Which could be overridden by martial law
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/posse-comitatus-act-explained
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/why-posse-comitatus-act-must-be-reformed
https://www.aclu.org/documents/reforms-national-guard-deployment-authorities-and-posse-comitatus-act-fy2023-national-defense
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42669 The Posse Comitatus Act and Related Matters
https://davekopel.org/2A/LawRev/2015/Posse-Comitatus-Kopel.pdf THE POSSE COMITATUS AND THE OFFICE OF SHERIFF: ARMED CITIZENS SUMMONED TO THE AID OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/2421411/calling-forth-the-military-a-brief-history-of-the-insurrection-act/
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/p/posse-comitatus-act-and-related-matters-a-sketch.html
https://www.rbhayes.org/scholarlyworks/the-posse-comitatus-act-and-using-military-as-a-police-force/
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-D101-PURL-LPS37253/pdf/GOVPUB-D101-PURL-LPS37253.pdf THE POSSE COMITATUS ACT: A HARMLESS RELIC FROM THE POST-RECONSTRUCTION ERA OR A LEGAL IMPEDIMENT TO TRANSFORMATION?
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2215&context=parameters The Posse Comitatus Act: Liberation from the Lawyers
https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1202&context=cjil
Posse Comitatus: Preparing for the Hearings
Posse Comitatus Act
Nuclear weapons are not going to be dumped; it would be close to suicidal.
Can we get a list of 17 categories that would be exempt from the spending cuts? I’m sure 80% of the current budget is in this list of 17 exception.
Good idea.
It is not about disarmament. It is about reducing corruption and making the military budget more efficient.
That's what they are selling. but not everything that is sold is purely "kosher".
Normally I'd say that a yearly 8%, cummulative, is a massive slash but when trillions have vanished at the Pentagon for lack of accountability (not a bug but a feature) and when the hyper-expensive weapons that the MIC quasi-monopoly sells seem to be highly inefficient in real wars, it makes sense.
It seems to lack a clear plan however. Rather than quantitative, the real problem seems to be qualitative, right?
The Marines (only) have passed accountability.
Creative accounting?…
I would love for DOGE or Hegseth to take a really hard look at the composition and staffing (and budgets) of all out "Joint Combatant Commands" (I think there are 11 now?) all headed by a 4 star, with a gang (I mean, "battle staff") of sycophants (many of them full Colonels, and 1 or 2 star generals or admirals), purse holders, drivers, dog walkers, and "press office", all "making plans" and "operating jointly", while they flitter around "inspecting" and "visiting trouble spots" and "coordinating with allies", whatever the hell that is supposed to mean. I suspect these could be slashed by 75% and no one would miss them, except of course for all the overfed, pampered, largely senile flag officers who would lose their sinecures. Axing those fucks would be a win-win for the budget and national security both.
Excellent.
https://www.defense.gov/About/combatant-commands/
https://www.centcom.mil/ABOUT-US/COMPONENT-COMMANDS/
https://usafa.libguides.com/combatantcommands/overview
Yes, I know what they are, and what they pretend to do, which is mostly nothing except provide supernumerary senior officers with cushy jobs. They need a thorough investigation, and if as useless as I expect they are, they need to be slashed.
“The first cut is the deepest”…
😉
Basically Musk is protecting his investment of $250 million that he gave to Trump campaign so he can get it back with interest at the end of four year presidency…!
from AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the military services to identify $50 billion in programs that could be cut next year in order to redirect those savings to fund President Donald Trump’s priorities.
Hegseth has committed to redirecting Pentagon spending to more directly support warfighters. In a statement late Wednesday, Robert Salesses, who is performing the duties of deputy secretary of defense, said “the time for preparation is over” and “excessive bureaucracy” and programs targeting climate change or “other woke programs” such as diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives would be targeted.
“To achieve our mandate from President Trump, we are guided by his priorities including securing our borders, building the Iron Dome for America, and ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing,” Salesses said.
stop the funnies
"SecDef Hegseth Orders Sweeping Pentagon Cuts"
Workers to be replaced by prototype AI robots "that will terminate useless humans, obey my orders."
Saw las t night on Fox that MAGA is very happy about AI finding out all those fraud expenditures across the nation.
True, that is the plus of AI but be very careful and aware that there is a very sinister and dark aspect of AI as well. They say not to worry it is OK when 'good" people control it.
AI used to its full capacity will eventually replace our "humanness".
Misuse of AI brought down Atlantis.
Now it looks like a realignment not a cut.
“Secretary Hegseth has directed a review to identify offsets from the Biden Administration’s FY26 budget that could be realigned from low-impact and low-priority Biden-legacy programs to align with President Trump’s America First priorities for our national defense,” acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses said in a Wednesday night statement.
8%? omg how horrible!. We cant afford that! send in the dollars!
Does cutting military spending correspond to spending on arms supplies to Ukraine and Israel?
Is the government not planning to deploy troops abroad?
How are arms companies and their shares reacting?
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8035/text Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024
https://www.defense.gov/Spotlights/Support-for-Ukraine/
https://media.defense.gov/2025/Jan/08/2003626039/-1/-1/0/UKRAINE-INFOGRAPHIC-19DEC2024.PDF UKRAINE SECURITY ASSISTANCE
https://www.ukraineoversight.gov/Funding/ Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-2024 Funding Sources
As of September 30, 2024, the U.S. Ukraine response funding totals nearly $183 billion, with $130.1 billion obligated and $86.7 billion disbursed.
https://www.cfr.org/article/how-much-us-aid-going-ukraine
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1303432/total-bilateral-aid-to-ukraine/
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-america-s-aid-to-ukraine-actually-works
https://www.state.gov/bureau-of-political-military-affairs/releases/2025/01/u-s-security-cooperation-with-ukraine
https://www.state.gov/u-s-security-cooperation-with-israel/
https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/papers/2024/USspendingIsrael
https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts
https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2024/us-spends-a-record-17-9-billion-on-military-aid-to-israel-since-last-oct-7/
https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/industrials/aerospace-defense/?guccounter=1
https://hellostake.com/au/blog/trending/top-defence-stocks-to-watch
US taxpayers should not pay for building homes for Israelis to live on the West Bank. Build housing for our working poor, flood ridden, and TRULY disabled US citizens right here.
Holy fuck, did you fall on your head?
How do you cut a budget that isn’t even real?
Time and time again, remember how the pentagon “desperately” needed more money, but then suddenly they “found some”? The pentagon is a magician’s hat with rabbits.
Or in reverse? So many rabbits disappear, empty hat.
They also have taken an advanced course in "Creative Accounting".
Indeed. anti accounting. Since it was never accountable.
It's more of a white scam…transferring money within the agency…!
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QWWMt9EIYGY/UYh2TDoTjcI/AAAAAAAACBc/OjfEmjyi2EU/s1600/magic+meme.gif
from Politico
The memo does not protect weapons systems that the Pentagon had previously designated as among its most critical, including Columbia-class submarines that are set to enter service within the next decade, space-based systems, a range of manned aircraft, as well as troop deployments to a number of regions, including Europe and the Middle East.
Hegseth indicated that the cuts to future defense budgets, which had been drafted under the Biden administration, should be reinvested in the Pentagon’s new priority areas under Trump.
The full list of priorities exempted from cuts include Virginia-class submarines, uncrewed systems and the Air Force’s emerging uncrewed fighter jet program [cut F-35?], surface ships, cybersecurity, munitions and energetics, and homeland missile defense, likely in anticipation of Trump’s push for a nationwide American equivalent of Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ missile defense system.
The realignment signals a major shift in spending priorities that will certainly face resistance on Capitol Hill. The memo drew swift condemnation from the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee’s ranking member, Sen. Chris Coons .
Nice start, but the fifth year of the plan goes beyond Trump's term of office.
Also, exempting nuclear weapons modernization is a terrible idea. The whole Sentinel program is not only an expensive boondoggle, it is dangerous. We should be eliminating ICBMs.