Despite DOGE, Pentagon escapes Donald Trump's budget cuts unscathed [View all]
Source: USA Today
Updated July 2, 2025, 5:36 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON − In February, before President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's very public feud, the president bragged his ally would find "hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud and abuse" in the Defense Department budget.
Less than five months later, the Pentagon formally announced the country's first-ever $1 trillion defense budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, eclipsing the previous year's enacted total by more than $100 billion. The direct "savings from DOGE collaboration" touted in the Defense Department's budget rollout? Only $6 billion.
Although Congress must legislate and approve the full budget, an initial tranche of the fiscal 2026 funding − $119.3 billion of the $1.01 trillion − for the Defense Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration will likely arrive via Trump's tax and spending package, which he has dubbed "one, big beautiful bill." The administration staked key portions of the defense budget on Trump's megabill, which includes controversial conservative policy priorities.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth argued before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the budget is needed to "end four years of chronic underinvestment in our military." Former President Joe Biden requested increased levels of defense spending, but congressional Republicans asked for even more. A DOD spokesperson told USA TODAY that Hegseth continues to review programs for cuts or further reallocations.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/02/trump-defense-budget-hits-1-trillion-despite-doge/84419890007/
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