US Department of Defense (DOD) Director Pete Hegses said on Sunday that his division “doesn't do climate crap” but instead focuses on combat and training.
The secretary was responding to a post from CNN by Hailey Briticky, who shared stories about the Pentagon's DOD and the Government Efficiency Office (DOGE) cutting programme to address climate change.
“While Dod and Doge say they plan to cut the Pentagon's climate program, officials and experts warn that climate efforts at DOD have a direct connection to military preparation, and that cuts could put the military and military operations at risk,” Briticky wrote.
CNN reportedly contacted the Pentagon with a list of questions about military preparation, Britockey added.
“… Pentagon Spox's John Urito said, “The climate frenzy and other awakened chimera on the left are not part of Dodd's mission,” posted Briticky.
After seeing the post, Hegseth weighed in.
“Of course, John is right,” the Secretary of Defense wrote. “@deptofdefense doesn't do climate change crap. It's training and fighting.”
Dog and DOD, led by billionaire Elon Musk, have worked together to significantly reduce wasteful spending, DOD spokesman Sean Parnell said in a video posted on social media last week.
He listed some of the first findings that Doge flagged. It consisted of millions of dollars given to support a variety of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
Also among the findings, $1.6 million to the University of Florida studied the social and institutional disadvantages of vulnerability in Africa's resilience to climate risks.
“This kind of thing is not a central function of our military,” Parnell said.
“This is not what we do. Something like this is a distraction from our core mission.”
“We believe these initial findings will likely save $80 million on wasted spending,” he added.
Hegseth said his agency will work with Doge. Doge conducted reviews from the Department of Finance, the Labor, Education and Health sectors, as well as at the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Personnel Management and Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
He added that many Doge workers are veterans, and that's a “good thing” they find flaws.
“They, like us, care about finding redundancy and identifying the last trace of Biden's priorities. Day, awakened, Climate Change BS, that's not the heart of our mission.
Louis Casiano of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
