#pentagon-spending

#pentagon-spending

The president is maybe sort of threatening/teasing that he might put boots on the ground in Iran? But Republicans can't seem to agree on whether they support that idea, or for how long, or why. The confusion comes from the top: Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary who made a big deal about turning the defense department into the department of war and refocusing on the core mission: war fighting.

According to an analysis by nonprofit watchdog Open the Books, Hegseth's DoD spent $93.4 billion on grants and contracts in Sept. 2025 alone—nearly 50 percent of which was expended in the last five business days of the month. Per the analysis by Open the Books, in September, the Pentagon spent $2 million on Alaskan king crab, $6.9 million on lobster tail, $15.1 million on ribeye steak, and $1 million on salmon.

America had been losing the drone race for a while to countries like China, said Velicovich, a US Army special operations veteran who wrote a book called Drone Warrior. That era is over. We're entering the era of American drone dominance.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Reagan National Defense Forum, the House Armed Services Committee's top Democrat told Breaking Defense how he feels about the Trump administration's new National Security Strategy's outlook on Europe and the Western Hemisphere and knocked the Pentagon's lack of details on a spending plan for Golden Dome.

If the department does become the Department of War, it could end up being extremely expensive. According to the report: It would likely cost billions of dollars to change the names of hundreds of Pentagon agencies, their stationary, emblems, plaques and other signage at the Defense Department, along with bases around the world. The expense could put a serious dent into the administration's efforts to slash Pentagon spending and waste.