The US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the leadership of the Pentagon and the US Armed Forces to develop a plan to reduce the defense budget by 8% over the next five years.
This is reported by the American newspaper The Washington Post, citing a received document and its own sources.
The plan must be prepared by February 24. But the cuts should not apply to 17 categories, including operations on the southern US border, modernization of nuclear weapons and missile defense systems, as well as the procurement of submarines and kamikaze drones.
The Pentagon budget for 2025 is about $850 billion. If Hegsetʼs demands are met, it will be the largest reduction in Pentagon spending since 2013.
In the document, Hegset emphasizes that funding for programs aimed at “combat needs” should be maintained at the expense of cuts to “low-performing items” such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI
According to senior Pentagon official Robert Saleses, the money saved could be directed to new US priorities, including the “Iron Dome for America”, an expanded missile defense system previously reported by the US President Donald Trump.
The newspaper also recalls Trumpʼs order requiring the Pentagon to compile lists of thousands of employees who are on probation and who are expected to be fired soon.
According to WP, Hegsethʼs order is also interesting for "what it doesnʼt have". The list of areas whose funding must be preserved does not mention European Command, which plays a key role in supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia, Central Command, which manages operations in the Middle East, and Africa Command, which manages several thousand American troops across the continent.
During his first European trip after taking office, Hegseth said that Washington does not support Ukraine joining NATO and that it is “unrealistic” for Kyiv to return to the borders that existed before 2014. Hegseth also said that European troops should be the main force ensuring the security of post-war Ukraine, and that the American military will not participate in this.
- After Donald Trump became US president, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was launched in Washington under the leadership of billionaire Elon Musk. This structure should increase the efficiency of the American government in a year and a half. As part of the governmentʼs spending cuts, the US government, among other things, suspended aid programs to other countries and offered federal officials the opportunity to resign and receive compensation.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.