Hegseth announces $5.1 billion in cuts to Defense spending

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced that the Department of Defense (DOD) will be trimming another $5 billion from its budget, as part of his efforts to reduce wasteful government spending.

The secretary said the Department of Government Efficiency helped him spot the wasteful spending, as part of its broader mission to help restructure the federal government to make it run more smoothly. 

Hegseth said the cuts are primarily eliminating excessive and expensive contracts, such as $1.8 billion in consulting contracts the Defense Health Agency awarded to various private firms.

"That's with a 'B.' $5.1 billion in DOD contracts for ancillary things like consulting and other nonessential services," Hegseth said in a video of the announcement. "We need this money to spend on better health care for our warfighters and their families, instead of $500 an hour business process consultant. That's a lot of consulting." 

The money also includes eliminating a $500 million contract for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which does the same thing as Defense Information Systems Agency, making the payment "duplicative."

The department is additionally cutting 11 climate change and diversity, equity, and inclusion contracts. It will also be pausing $500 million in federal funding for two universities that "tolerate antisemitism." This is in addition to the $70 million it has already pulled from three other schools.

"If you're keeping score at home, today's cuts bring our running total to nearly $6 billion in wasteful spending over the first six weeks of the Department of Government Efficiency effort here at the Defense Department," Hegseth said. 

"We're excited to make these cuts on behalf of you, the taxpayer and the warfighters here at the department," he added.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.