Defense Dept Slashes $580M in ‘Wasteful’ Spending Following DOGE Findings

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has taken a decisive step in cutting what he deems "wasteful" spending within the Department of Defense (DoD), announcing the cancellation of over $580 million in contracts. The move was made official with the signing of a memo that Hegseth proudly shared in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

"Today, I'm signing a memo directing the termination of over $580 million in DoD contracts and grants that do not align with the priorities of this administration or the department," Hegseth stated. "In other words, these are not a good use of taxpayer dollars."

He also committed to transparency, providing details about some of the contracts being eliminated. Among them, a staggering example was an HR software project that was meant to take one year and cost $36 million but spiraled into an eight-year, $280-million debacle. "That’s 780% over budget," Hegseth noted. "We’re not doing that anymore." Honestly, who greenlights this stuff?

Another target on the chopping block: $360 million in grants tied to efforts like decarbonizing Navy ship emissions, a remnant of the Obama-Biden administration's Green agenda. Hegseth didn’t hold back here, saying, "I need lethal machine learning models, not equitable machine learning models." Touché, Secretary Hegseth.

He also highlighted wasteful external consulting contracts, such as $30 million spent on firms like Gartner and McKinsey for IT-related services, including unused software licenses. These cuts are part of a larger collaboration with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has already helped identify 239 "wasteful" contracts with a cumulative ceiling value of $1.7 billion over the past two days alone.

Hegseth has made it clear that these efforts have just begun. "We appreciate the hard work being done by our partners at DOGE, and there’s a lot more coming. Stay tuned," he said. And just like that, he signed the orders, signaling the end of another round of questionable spending. "Might as well not waste any more time right now," he quipped.

As expected, the bold transparency has drawn praise from allies, including Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who commented on X, "Have we ever seen this level of transparency? Amazing, thank you @SecDef."

Back in February, Hegseth had pledged to partner with DOGE to address wasteful spending at the DoD, emphasizing the importance of fiscal responsibility in managing the department’s massive budget. With over $800 million in cuts already made in just a few weeks, it seems that promise is being kept.