DOGE joins budget battle on side of Defense Department

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is trying to harness 2 seemingly untamable forces: the Pentagon and the Department of Government Efficiency. First, he ordered the subject to reallocate 8% of its fund distant from low-priority items similar clime alteration to amended align with President Donald Trump’s "America First" programs. If implemented, the fund displacement would effect successful a 40% accommodation toward backing Trump’s priorities implicit DOD’s modular five-year defence program.  

Hegseth emphasized that his directive is "not a cut." Instead, helium is "refocusing and reinvesting existing funds into gathering the force." Second, Hegseth has acknowledged that DOGE had officially entered the Pentagon. DOGE, helium explained, would "be incorporated" into DOD efforts "to find fraud, discarded and maltreatment successful the largest discretionary fund successful the national government." 

Hegseth is shrewdly attempting to leverage the powerfulness of DOGE and instrumentality a much-needed broad betterment of the Pentagon budget. His reallocation program assumes that savings from wasteful and unnecessary programs should beryllium ample capable to fend off unit for much harmful cuts, perchance successful areas indispensable for warfighting. His occurrence volition hinge connected whether DOGE volition clasp Hegseth’s 8% fund reallocation program oregon if it demands broad cuts connected the Pentagon. President Trump, who has indicated he volition let his furniture secretaries to instrumentality the archetypal ace astatine cuts alternatively of DOGE, volition beryllium the pivotal subordinate successful Hegseth’s gambit.  

SECRETARY HEGSETH SAYS THE DOD DOES NOT DO 'CLIMATE CHANGE CRAP'

Hegseth’s presumption is akin to different reform-minded Defense Secretary, Robert Gates. Fifteen years ago, Gates warned that aft a decennary of warfare successful Iraq and Afghanistan "the gusher of defence spending" was over. With fund cuts looming, Gates reached an statement with President Barack Obama that immoderate ratio and overhead savings helium recovered could beryllium reinvested backmost into unit operation and modernization priorities — alternatively than utilized arsenic an excuse to shrink the Pentagon budget. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth participates successful PT with the 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), a US Army Special Forces battalion based successful Stuttgart, Germany.  (DefSec Hegseth connected X)

Gates found $100 cardinal successful savings by reducing Pentagon contractors, canceling weapons programs similar the Marine expeditionary warring vehicle, and shuttering excess organizations similar Joint Forces Command, but Obama reneged connected his promise. He argued helium could not warrant existent maturation successful the defence fund amid a indebtedness crisis. Nine months later, Obama signed the Budget Control Act into law, with disastrous consequences for defense. In the 10 years aft the BCA was enacted, the Pentagon’s fund was cut by 14%, totaling astir $1 trillion.  

Trump volition find whether his squad repeats the aforesaid mistake arsenic Obama and Gates. Unlike 2010, the stakes are adjacent higher and determination is a consensus in Washington that America needs a subject buildup to face China’s unprecedented subject modernization. Over the past 2 years, the PRC has enjoyed a 15% increase in its defence budget. This twelvemonth China’s defence fund maturation will outpace China’s economical growth, revealing wherever Xi’s existent priorities lie. 

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Congress appears to beryllium doing its portion to help. The reconciliation process underway connected Capitol Hill whitethorn adhd $150 cardinal successful defence dollars implicit the adjacent decade. Reconciliation is an accidental to determination beyond the perennially dysfunctional yearly defence authorization and appropriation bills.  

The multi-year backing measurement would let the Pentagon to recapitalize an concern basal that has not seen an upgrade since the 1980s.  

Defense backing successful a reconciliation measurement is particularly captious to these priorities because, arsenic Hegseth warned, important defence increases whitethorn not beryllium coming successful the president’s ain fund request. That world explains wherefore Hegseth has said the Pentagon whitethorn person to marque bash with the resources already disposable and "make definite that each dollar goes further." Hegseth’s bid could reallocate astatine slightest $50 cardinal this fiscal twelvemonth and astir $250 cardinal implicit the beingness of the defence program.  

Internal efficiencies on the lines of what Gates recovered much than a decennary agone combined with superior increases from a reconciliation measurement could present transformative results: a leaner, much agile Pentagon present capable to recapitalize the concern base, deploy caller technologies and catalyze different underfunded priorities like munitions accumulation captious to a China fight. A predictable travel of superior would spell a agelong mode toward realizing Trump medication priorities similar expanding shipbuilding capableness and the Golden Dome nationalist rocket defence system.  

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Trump has declared "we volition again physique the strongest subject the satellite has ever seen. We volition measurement our occurrence not lone by the battles we triumph but besides by the wars we extremity — and possibly astir importantly, the wars we ne'er get into.."  

Whether DOGE prunes distant DoD’s excess discarded and inefficiencies oregon is an anvil that smashes done Pentagon programs – bully and atrocious alike – is successful President Trump’s hands. He uniquely tin forestall the mistakes of his predecessors and let the Pentagon to reinvest successful itself and transportation retired the goal outlined in his level to "Strengthen and modernize our military, making it, without question, the strongest and astir almighty successful the world."  

Michael Stanton is simply a probe adjunct astatine the Reagan Institute.

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