Pentagon’s funding switch from ‘climate change’ and other woke programs” and “excessive bureaucracy

Pentagon’s funding switch from  ‘climate change’ and other woke programs” and “excessive bureaucracy

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has directed Pentagon officials to redirect about $50 billion—about 8% of the expected total of roughly $850 billion—in the Biden administration’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal, Defense One’s Audrey Decker reports.  

The funds are to come, in part, from “so-called ‘climate change’ and other woke programs” and “excessive bureaucracy,” and go toward Trump-administration priorities such as building an “Iron Dome” for the U.S., ending diversity-related programs, and improving security along the Mexican border, according to a statement Wednesday evening from acting deputy defense secretary Robert Salesses.

That statement followed a Tuesday memo from Hegseth, which the Washington Post reported called for “cuts,” but which might be similar budget rearrangements, over the next five years. The memo listed 17 priority areas, including the ones in Salesses’ statement plus such things as submarines, one-way attack drones and other munitions, and new ICBMs and nuclear bombers and subs. The memo also called the Indo-Pacific Command region a budget priority.

Fine print: Certain efforts are exempt from cuts, the memo said, such as fighting international criminal organizations and preparing for a Pentagon audit.
 
Rewind: The fiscal 2025 Defense Authorization Act, passed in December, adhered to the Biden administration’s topline request of $849.9 billion for the Pentagon. But negotiations on the appropriations bill are still ongoing, more than five months into the fiscal year.

Worth noting: While it’s common for new administrations to adjust the budget proposals of their predecessors, an 8-percent shift is more than usual, Decker reports.
 
For what it’s worth, here’s Nebraska GOP Rep. Don Bacon, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a retired Air Force intelligence officer, speaking about potential defense spending cuts on Friday in Honolulu: “We're spending 2.9% of our GDP on defense. It's inadequate. That's the lowest we've been spending since 1940. It's not enough to modernize the three legs of our [nuclear] triad, [or produce] fifth- and sixth-generation fighters. It is embarrassing that we're producing 1.2 attack submarines a year. That's unacceptable. If I'm President, or SecDef, or in the HASC [which he is], we've gotta fix that. It's not adequate in deterring China. We just gotta be candid about it. The level we're spending and what we're putting out in capabilities are not good.”

A second opinion: “President Trump should seek to increase defense spending by 3 to 5 percent above inflation each year and ensure that any such increase amounts to at least a 0.1 percent GDP increase each year,” said Brad Bowman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, based in Washington. “If the Trump administration does not request increased funding for defense, Congress should embrace its Article 1 constitutional authorities and responsibilities and ensure our military has the resources necessary to defend our country,” he wrote on social media Wednesday evening.

By the way: Hegseth “is considering firing a slate of military generals and flag officers as early as this week,” nearly a half-dozen U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday.

“Most of those on the list have been closely associated with former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who served all four years of the Biden administration, have worked on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives or have voiced opinions that Trump’s allies viewed as politically out of line with his agenda, the officials said.” There’s not much more to know about the development yet.