DOGE can now review most unclassified Pentagon contracts
The Pentagon announced this week that the Department of Government Efficiency will now get a chance to assess nearly all unclassified contracts before they're awarded.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a memo published Wednesday that the office, created by the Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk, may now review solicitations, requirements and cost estimates for new contracts and modifications.
The order excludes requirements packages for overseas contingency operations, contracts with performance outside the U.S., and awards under $1 million. The authority will initially apply to communications and utilities contracts, advisory and assistance services and professional support services.
The directive adds another step to what many already see as a cumbersome Defense Department acquisition process. The document does not lay out what authority DOGE will have to alter or cancel awards, though it does put some administrative restrictions on the timeline for DOGE's involvement, giving the office just two days to conduct a review.
President Donald Trump established DOGE on his first day in office to 'maximize government efficiency and productivity.' The office, which is not a Cabinet-level entity, has been met with mixed reviews, facing accusations of inflated savings claims and cuts motivated by ideology rather than frugality.
Agency leads like Hegseth have praised the cuts as helping reduce federal spending. Some lawmakers, including Republicans like Rep. Don Bacon, R-NE, have expressed reservations about DOGE's 'rash' decision making, despite supporting its underlying mission.
Democrats have widely criticized the efforts, which have slashed funding for foreign aid, gutted the federal civilian workforce and reduced spending on basic research.
In a video posted on X Wednesday, Hegseth said DOGE has uncovered more than $10 billion in savings and cost avoidance at the Pentagon. Much of that total — which includes both obligated funds and projected future spending — has come from canceling large management and consulting contracts.
'We're committed to reducing bloated bureaucracy and wasteful spending in factor of increased lethality,' he said. 'That's a tradeoff I will take every day — converting consultants into combat power.'
Along with his memo empowering DOGE to review military contracts, Hegseth issued another directive barring acquisition offices from issuing new IT consulting or management services contracts unless the requirements can't be met in-house or provided by a 'direct service provider.' It would also significantly limit what contracts the department may issue for advisory and assistance services.
The memo, also published Wednesday, says DOD entities should rely more heavily on the department's internal, full-time workforce and should only use contractors for roles that are not inherently governmental or for tasks that can't be performed by DOD employees.
'While we rely on our vital industrial base to deliver cutting-edge technology and support, we must in-source more expertise and harness the unparalleled talent of our existing experts to drive financial efficiency and operational strength,' Hegseth said in the memo. 'We will become lean and mean, eliminating wasteful practices and reallocating resources to fortify our strategic edge.'
That heavier reliance on in-house expertise comes as the Pentagon implements an 8% cut to its civilian workforce and could put more strain on the personnel that remain.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Hegseth Talked Big Game to Indo-Pacific Allies—but Trump Mistrust Runs Deep
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 31, 2025. Credit - Ore Huiying—Bloomberg/Getty Images Against the backdrop of U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance's jaw-dropping polemic against European democracies at February's Munich Security Conference, this was a welcome return to sense, if not Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a powerful though measured speech at Singapore's IISS Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday, pointedly calling out 'Communist China' for its 'massive military build-up, … grey zone tactics, and hybrid warfare,' while also hailing the strength and importance of America's regional alliances and using the word 'peace' 27 times. 'President Trump is a leader of peace, a man of peace, a force for peace,' Hegseth told the scores of Asia-Pacific defense and military chiefs crammed into the ballroom at Singapore's Shangri-La Hotel. 'And together, we will achieve that peace through strength.' Hegseth repeatedly called the Indo-Pacific 'our priority theater' and, in a marked departure from Vance, actually praised European nations for hiking defense spending as an example that their Asian counterparts should emulate. 'It was quite surprising that he used Europe as a reference in terms of GDP [defense] spending,' Micael Johansson, president and CEO of the Swedish arms manufacturer Saab, told TIME. 'But it was a good speech and more collaborative than I had expected.' As Hegseth described it, American defense policy was now that Europe's security would be left to Europeans, while the U.S. was focusing its rebuilt military might—augmented by a $1 trillion defense spend next year, a 13% year-on-year rise—on the Indo-Pacific. This would focus on boosting America's forward force deployment, helping allies and partners strengthen their security capabilities, and rebuilding defense industrial bases including within friendly nations. 'A strong, resolute, and capable network of allies and partners is our key strategic advantage,' said Hegseth. Hegseth also unleashed several broadsides against China, accusing strongman President Xi Jinping of having 'ordered his military to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027,' with the former Fox News anchor warning that an assault on the self-ruling island—which politically split from the mainland following China's 1945–49 civil war—'could be imminent.' These remarks drew the inevitable rebuke from Beijing, which issued a statement saying Hegseth 'vilified China with defamatory allegations' that were 'filled with provocations and intended to sow discord.' Beijing also warned that Washington 'must never play with fire on [the Taiwan] question,' which is 'entirely China's internal affair.' Notably, China's defense minister stayed away from the annual security summit for the first time since 2019. Admiral Dong Jun was rumored to have been under a corruption investigation amid a sweeping purge of high-ranking PLA officers, though latest reports suggest that he's been cleared. The Chinese delegation that did attend treated Hegseth's accusations with scorn. 'He used a very strong, harsh tone, which surprised me a little, and it's unconstructive and hypocritical,' says Prof. Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS) at Beijing's Tsinghua University. 'Because the U.S. is imposing high tariffs on regional countries, so how can you expect them to partner with you against another economic power?' Indeed, Trump's internecine global trade war was the glaring elephant in the room. Asked about the 'reciprocal tariffs' imposed in April, Hegseth joked: 'I am happily in the business of tanks, not trade, and I will leave that discussion to the man who knows how to do it best.' Which was the ultimate takeaway for the brass hats present. Hegseth's statement of commitment to the region and working with allies was broadly welcomed but hedged by the chaotic approach of the guy he reports to. Indeed, Hegseth showed his hand when he admitted: 'My job is to create and maintain decision space for President Trump, not to purport to make decisions on his behalf.' Delegates in Singapore were only too aware that today, more than during any other U.S. administration, power rests with just one man, whose constant policy flip-flops—embarrassing Zelensky before lambasting Putin; ripping up one Iranian nuclear deal before seeking another; hiking and pausing tariffs—have conjured a bevy of TACO, 'or Trump always chickens out,' memes as well as the impression that American words have never been cheaper. 'I'm quite sure it's just talk,' one European delegate said of Hegseth's speech. A Bangladeshi military officer agreed: 'It still feels like Trump is a more inward-looking than global President.' Write to Charlie Campbell at
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
Scott Bessent dismisses Jamie Dimon's debt concerns, saying none of his past predictions have been right
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he doesn't agree with Jamie Dimon's prediction that the bond market will crack. "I've known Jamie a long time and for his entire career he's made predictions like this. Fortunately, none of them have come true. That's why he's a banker, a great banker. He tries to look around the corner," Bessent said in an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation." Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, told attendees at the Reagan National Economic Forum on Friday that the US "massively overdid" spending and quantitative easing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dimon predicted this will lead to a "crack in the bond market." "It is going to happen," Dimon said on Friday. "I just don't know if it's going to be a crisis in six months or six years, and I'm hoping that we change both the trajectory of the debt and the ability of market makers to make markets," he added. Bessent said the government is working on shrinking its deficit, and the administration intends to "leave the country in great shape in 2028." "So the deficit this year is going to be lower than the deficit last year, and in two years it will be lower again. We are going to bring the deficit down slowly. We didn't get here in one year, and this has been a long process," Bessent told CBS. Last month, House Republicans passed President Donald Trump's " big beautiful bill." The bill, in its current form, is expected to raise the deficit by $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years, per the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The bill is now with the Senate, and GOP lawmakers hope to have it on Trump's desk by July 4. Dimon isn't the only one who has raised concerns about the US deficit. Last week, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in an interview with "CBS Sunday Morning" that he was " disappointed to see the massive spending bill." A clip from Musk's interview was released on Tuesday. The full interview aired on Sunday. "I was, like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," Musk said. Musk was the leader of the White House DOGE office from January to May. He announced his departure from the Trump administration on Wednesday. "I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful. But I don't know if it could be both," Musk told CBS.
Time Magazine
2 hours ago
- Time Magazine
Pete Hegseth Talked a Big Game to Indo-Pacific Allies—but Trump Mistrust Runs Deep
Against the backdrop of U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance's jaw-dropping polemic against European democracies at February's Munich Security Conference, this was a welcome return to sense, if not sanity. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a powerful though measured speech at Singapore's IISS Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday, pointedly calling out 'Communist China' for its 'massive military build-up, … grey zone tactics, and hybrid warfare,' while also hailing the strength and importance of America's regional alliances and using the word 'peace' 27 times. 'President Trump is a leader of peace, a man of peace, a force for peace,' Hegseth told the scores of Asia-Pacific defense and military chiefs crammed into the ballroom at Singapore's Shangri-La Hotel. 'And together, we will achieve that peace through strength.' Hegseth repeatedly called the Indo-Pacific 'our priority theater' and, in a marked departure from Vance, actually praised European nations for hiking defense spending as an example that their Asian counterparts should emulate. 'It was quite surprising that he used Europe as a reference in terms of GDP [defense] spending,' Micael Johansson, president and CEO of the Swedish arms manufacturer Saab, told TIME. 'But it was a good speech and more collaborative than I had expected.' As Hegseth described it, American defense policy was now that Europe's security would be left to Europeans, while the U.S. was focusing its rebuilt military might—augmented by a $1 trillion defense spend next year, a 13% year-on-year rise—on the Indo-Pacific. This would focus on boosting America's forward force deployment, helping allies and partners strengthen their security capabilities, and rebuilding defense industrial bases including within friendly nations. 'A strong, resolute, and capable network of allies and partners is our key strategic advantage,' said Hegseth. Hegseth also unleashed several broadsides against China, accusing strongman President Xi Jinping of having 'ordered his military to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027,' with the former Fox News anchor warning that an assault on the self-ruling island—which politically split from the mainland following China's 1945–49 civil war—'could be imminent.' These remarks drew the inevitable rebuke from Beijing, which issued a statement saying Hegseth 'vilified China with defamatory allegations' that were 'filled with provocations and intended to sow discord.' Beijing also warned that Washington 'must never play with fire on [the Taiwan] question,' which is 'entirely China's internal affair.' Notably, China's defense minister stayed away from the annual security summit for the first time since 2019. Admiral Dong Jun was rumored to have been under a corruption investigation amid a sweeping purge of high-ranking PLA officers, though latest reports suggest that he's been cleared. The Chinese delegation that did attend treated Hegseth's accusations with scorn. 'He used a very strong, harsh tone, which surprised me a little, and it's unconstructive and hypocritical,' says Prof. Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS) at Beijing's Tsinghua University. 'Because the U.S. is imposing high tariffs on regional countries, so how can you expect them to partner with you against another economic power?' Indeed, Trump's internecine global trade war was the glaring elephant in the room. Asked about the 'reciprocal tariffs' imposed in April, Hegseth joked: 'I am happily in the business of tanks, not trade, and I will leave that discussion to the man who knows how to do it best.' Which was the ultimate takeaway for the brass hats present. Hegseth's statement of commitment to the region and working with allies was broadly welcomed but hedged by the chaotic approach of the guy he reports to. Indeed, Hegseth showed his hand when he admitted: 'My job is to create and maintain decision space for President Trump, not to purport to make decisions on his behalf.' Delegates in Singapore were only too aware that today, more than during any other U.S. administration, power rests with just one man, whose constant policy flip-flops— embarrassing Zelensky before lambasting Putin; ripping up one Iranian nuclear deal before seeking another; hiking and pausing tariffs—have conjured a bevy of TACO, 'or Trump always chickens out,' memes as well as the impression that American words have never been cheaper. 'I'm quite sure it's just talk,' one European delegate said of Hegseth's speech. A Bangladeshi military officer agreed: 'It still feels like Trump is a more inward-looking than global President.'
