Hegseth directs Pentagon to find USD 50 billion in cuts this year to fund Trump military priorities

Washington, Feb 20 (AP) US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the military services to identify USD 50 billion in programmes that could be cut next year in order to redirect those savings to fund President Donald Trump's priorities.

Hegseth has committed to redirecting Pentagon spending to more directly support war fighters. In a statement late on Wednesday, Robert Salesses, who is performing the duties of deputy secretary of defence, said "the time for preparation is over" and "excessive bureaucracy" and programmes targeting climate change or "other woke programmes" such as diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives would be targeted.

"To achieve our mandate from President Trump, we are guided by his priorities including securing our borders, building the Iron Dome for America, and ending radical and wasteful government DEI programmes and preferencing," Salesses said.

Iron Dome is envisioned as an extensive, multilayered air defence system for the US that Trump has said should include the ability to shoot down incoming missiles from space.

The roughly USD 50 billion would represent about 8 per cent of the military's budget. It was not immediately clear which parts of the Pentagon's spending on diversity and equity programmes, or its spending to address climate change -- such as buying alternate fuels for aircraft, or making bases more resistant to the effects of extreme weather, such as the 2018 hurricane that caused significant damage to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida -- would be targeted or could add up to USD 50 billion in savings.

The spending cuts mandate comes as the military is quickly trying to build its fiscal year 2026 request, a congressional process that often starts late during transitions between new presidential administrations. Hegseth has asked the Pentagon to find offsets -- programmes that can be cut to achieve spending elsewhere -- for fiscal year 2026, which starts October 1.

The cuts would be as drastic as the single-year ordered savings across the military in the 2013 sequestration, a law passed by Congress that was intended to force the legislative branch to reach agreement on budget deficit reductions and instead forced the services to cut USD 56 billion in a matter of months.

Because of the way the military budget is structured, long-term, high-dollar procurement programmes at the time were protected, as were most entitlements such as military retirement and health care.

At the time, the accounts that were easier to cut were found in operations, maintenance and personnel. The services lost non-commissioned officers -- highly trained mid-level enlisted personnel -- and cut training such as flight hours. Military training accidents quickly climbed.

In the years since the sequester, Congress and the services have directed additional protections to operations and maintenance spending. (AP) SZM

Source: PTI