Defense secretary orders military to prepare for major budget cuts

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to prepare plans to make drastic budget cuts over the next five years, with an exception for border security, according to a new memo obtained by CNN.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to prepare plans to make drastic budget cuts over the next five years, with an exception for border security, according to a new memo obtained by CNN. The memo, dated Tuesday, calls for military leaders to provide a proposal for eight percent in budget cuts each year for the next five years. The proposals for the massive cuts to the Pentagon’s budget of approximately $850 billion are due by February 24, less than one week after Hegseth issued the memo. It was issued the day before President Donald Trump endorsed the House’s budget plan which includes a $100 billion increase in defense spending, suggesting a major disconnect within the administration. Hegseth himself called for an increase to the defense budget one week ago. While visiting Stuttgart, Germany, Hegseth said, “I think the US needs to spend more than the Biden administration was willing to, who historically underinvested in the capabilities of our military.” “I ask that the Military Departments and DoD Components resource the capabilities and readiness necessary for a wartime tempo and offset those requirements with low-impact items, such as wasteful DEI and climate change programs,” Hegseth wrote in the memo. The memo, which was labeled CUI – controlled unclassified information – was sent to senior Pentagon leaders, the commanders of combatant commands and defense agencies. The memo comes as Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is initiating a major effort to shrink the federal government, cutting spending and laying off a significant number of workers across the country. The Washington Post first reported the memo.