Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the Pentagon to shift $50 billion from “woke programs” and use the funds to support President Donald Trump’s priorities.
Robert Salesses, who is performing the duties of the deputy defense secretary, said in a statement that Hegseth “directed a review to identify offsets from the Biden Administration’s FY26 budget that could be realigned from low-impact and low-priority Biden-legacy programs to align with President Trump’s America First priorities for our national defense.”
The Department will develop a list of potential offsets that could be used to fund these priorities, as well as to refocus the Department on its core mission of deterring and winning wars,” Salesses said. “The offsets are targeted at 8% of the Biden Administration’s FY26 budget, totaling around $50 billion, which will then be spent on programs aligned with President Trump’s priorities.”
The budget review will “once again resource warfighting and cease unnecessary spending that set our military back under the previous administration, including through so-called ‘climate change’ and other woke programs, as well as excessive bureaucracy. The time for preparation is over – we must act swiftly to deter current and impending threats and make the best use of taxpayers’ dollars in doing so.”
Hegseth previously expressed support for the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) involvement in auditing the Pentagon’s budget. In preparation, military branches are compiling lists of programs and assets considered redundant or outdated.
“The Defense Department is not in the business of climate change, solving the global thermostat. We’re in the business of deterring and winning wars,” Hegseth said. “So, things like that we want to look for to find efficiencies and many others – the way we acquire weapons, system procurement.”
