Pentagon officials are offering a list of possible cuts in preparation for a major overhaul of the Department of Defense due to new government efficiency.
Members of Doge, led by Elon Musk, are expected to arrive at DOD as soon as possible to tackle a budget of over $800 billion. Reported by the Wall Street Journal Friday.
The Doge team is aiming to cut 8% from next year's defense budget as part of a bigger effort to halve the $2 trillion federal deficit. According to the report.
For DOD Maximum discretionary budget In the country.
“People are offering things at the expense, hoping to prevent more cuts,” one defense attorney told the Journal.
The Army's list of cuts includes old drones and excess vehicles while the Navy proposes cutting frigates and coastal vessels, sources told the outlet.
“We are taking a proactive approach to making spending more efficient,” Army spokesman Colonel Dave Butler. Added.
“There are several systems that we know can't survive on modern battlefields.”
The Air Force did not immediately comment on what it would cut, but Musk previously referred to the F-35 stealth jet fighter program as a “flop.”
The F-35s were manufactured in 48 states, and lawmakers previously sought to maintain such troops in the district by rejecting the proposed cuts.
However, the new administration is not too worried about political fallout, experts pointed out.
“There's a mindset that the administration is willing to make cuts that disrupt the district,” said Brian Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegses said this week that he welcomed Doge to the Pentagon and agreed that waste should be addressed.
He says the DOD workforce, which includes nearly 3 million military personnel and civilian employees, is already growing too much.
Doge staff have been hunting federal spending cuts and restructuring agencies since the Trump administration began. The president signed an executive order on Tuesday, allowing the group to cut and hire government employees.
