Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signed a memo on Thursday directing the Department of Defense to cut more than $580 million in contracts and grants as the Pentagon works with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to eliminate “wasteful spending” under President Donald Trump’s administration.
In a Thursday video shared on X, formerly Twitter, Hegseth said, “We’re back with another quick update on our efforts to cut wasteful spending and cut it quickly at the Department of Defense so we get the dollars to the things that the warfighters need. So today, I’m signing a memo directing the termination of over $580 million in DoD contracts, in grants that do not match the priorities of this president or this department.”
Hegseth explained that the $580 million in Department of Defense contracts and grants were “not a good use of taxpayer dollars.” The secretary of defense noted that since American taxpayers fund the Department of Defense, the Pentagon owes the American people “transparency” and needs to be “making sure we’re using it well.”
As an example of the wasteful spending identified through DOGE’s investigation, Hegseth said the Pentagon would be cutting an “HR software effort” that was initially expected to cost $36 million and take one year to complete; however, the software has already taken eight years to develop, is $280 million over its initial budget, and is not “delivering” what it was expected to.
“So that’s 780 percent over budget,” Hegseth said. “We’re not doing that anymore.”
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In Thursday’s video, Hegseth announced that $360 million in Department of Defense grants would also be cut in the new memo, including a $6 million grant for “decarbonizing emissions from Navy ships” under the “Obama-Biden green agenda,” a $5.2 million grant to “diversify and engage the Navy by engaging underrepresented BIPOC students and scholars,” and a $9 million grant to “approach equitable AI and machine learning models.”
Hegseth also announced that $30 million in “wasteful spending” on external consulting contracts with Gartner Consulting and McKinsey & Co. would be cut in the new memo.
“Total cuts, running total, $800 million in wasteful spending canceled over the first few weeks as DoD partners with DOGE here to make sure that our warfighters have what they need by cutting the waste, fraud, and abuse,” Hegseth said. “They’re working hard. We’re working hard with them. We appreciate the work that they’re doing, and we have a lot more coming, so stay tuned.”
After Hegseth signed the memo cutting over $580 million in “wasteful spending,” he added, “We’re going to keep going for you guys.”
