Trump Admin Is Reportedly Going To Go After Pentagon Budget

This will probably make Democrats very happy after DOGE has gone after, and continues to go after, waste and fraud in lots of other agencies, since they tend to hate the military. Republicans will be unhappy, but, if they think about it, reducing waste and fraud in the military will give more money for actual operations. It could allow for increasing pay for service members. And it could reduce the budget as it stands, since the military budget has always been overly bloated. That might have been fine during the Cold War, not now

Trump Admin Reportedly Set To Cut Billions In ‘Unnecessary’ Spending From Pentagon Budget

Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly moving to gut billions of dollars from the Pentagon’s budget, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote to senior Pentagon leadership Tuesday that he wanted an 8% reduction in the defense budget in each of the next five years, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post. Hegseth directed leaders to deliver a plan for the budget cuts by Feb. 24, citing wasteful spending and “bureaucracy” as part of the reasons for the cuts.

The move comes as the defense budget has ballooned to $850 billion, according to the DOD.

“President Trump’s charge to DOD is clear: achieve Peace through Strength,” Hegseth reportedly said in the memo. “The time for preparation is over — we must act urgently to revive the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence. Our budget will resource the fighting force we need, cease unnecessary defense spending, reject excessive bureaucracy, and drive actionable reform including progress on the audit.”

Government agencies are extremely competitive in an attempt to increase their budget every year, and the military branches are some of the worst, which leads to wasteful spending and significant overspending. You know the $600 dollar hammer story? Well, the hammers weren’t actually $600. They were like $15. But, there was a $420 add-on for R&D. Every time for every hammer. They could have gone and gone a Stanley or Craftsman hammer with lifetime warranties. $7600 coffee makers. $500 ashtrays (some might remember Al Gore going on a late show trying to break one. Could have gotten plastic ones from Walmart for $10). Building cost overruns into contracts, guaranteeing there will be cost overruns.

Some questionable purchases from the Pentagon included $6.1 million on lobster tails in September 2024, and $16.6 million on ribeye steaks and $6.4 million on salmon. Additionally, the Pentagon spent $5.1 million on Apple products, including 130 iPhone 16 Pro Maxes, which are considered luxury versions of the base iPhone 16 model.

Pissing away money to make sure they spend the whole yearly allocation so they can get more the next year. This is how you get surplus. Surplus of bullets is great. Surplus of lots of other stuff is not. How much does it cost to actually operate? That should be the basis of every agency, just like in the private sector. If something comes up, OK, there might be money for that. Remember, the Pentagon has failed 7 straight audits. What would happen in the private sector if a division failed one, much less 7?

These Toilet Seat Lids Aren’t Gold-Plated, but They Cost $14,000

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Over the past few months alone, the Defense Department has had to explain why it’s been paying $14,000 for individual 3-D printed toilet seat lids and purchasing cups for $1,280 each. These are just the latest examples on a long list of unacceptable purchases made by the department, including $436 for hammers in the 1980s, and $117 soap dish covers and $999 pliers in the 1990s.

If you were in charge of procurement in the private sector, would you be employed once your bosses saw something similar? Would your small business still be open if you did this?

(Ashlime) Back in January of 2015, as far fewer people know, the Pentagon issued a internal study which found the agency could cut $125 billion in unneeded spending over a five-year period. That averages to about $850 for each of our nation’s 140 million taxpayers. In other words, for the money that was wasted, by their own admission, they could have bought a $600 hammer for every taxpayer in the country—and still returned $250 to every one of them.

Is that a realistic number, or, could it be more like $250 billion? So, yeah, if you are a conservative you should want the military to be a lean, mean, fighting machine and not waste taxpayer money. They should have what they need, but, be responsible.

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