Pentagon officials are offering up lists of possible cuts in preparation for a massive overhaul of the Department of Defense by the new Department of Government Efficiency.
Members of DOGE, which is headed by Elon Musk, are expected to arrive at the DOD as early as this week to tackle its more than $800 billion budget, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The DOGE team is aiming to cut 8% from next year’s defense budget as part of its greater efforts to halve a $2 trillion federal deficit, according to reports.
The DOD has the largest discretionary budget in the country.
“People are offering up things sacrificially, hoping that will prevent more cuts,” one defense official told the Journal.
The Army’s list of cuts includes outdated drones and excess vehicles while the Navy is proposing to chop its frigates and littoral combat ships, sources told the outlet.
“We’re taking a proactive approach to making our spending more efficient,” Col. Dave Butler, an Army spokesman. added.
“There are several systems that we know won’t survive on the modern battlefield.”
The Air Force did not immediately comment on what it might slash but Musk has previously criticized its F-35 stealth jet fighter program, calling it a “flop.”
The manufacturing of F-35s happens across 48 states and lawmakers previously sought to keep such military in their districts by rejecting any proposed cuts.
But the new administration is less concerned about political fallout, experts noted.
“There is a different mindset now where the administration is willing to make cuts that will upset constituencies,” Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, told the Journal.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this week that he welcomes DOGE to the Pentagon and agrees that waste needs to be addressed.
He has said the DOD workforce, which includes nearly 3 million military and civilian employees, has already grown too much.
DOGE staffers have been hunting for federal spending cuts and restructuring government agencies since the start of the Trump administration. The president signed an executive order Tuesday allowing the group to cut government employees and hiring.
