U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth Orders Pentagon 8% Annual Defense Budget Cuts

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has allegedly directed senior Pentagon and military leaders to draft plans for an 8% annual reduction in the defense budget over the next five years.

This was reported by The Washington Post on February 20, citing an obtained memo and officials familiar with the matter.

“The time for preparation is over, we must act urgently to revive the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence,” Hegseth wrote in the memo.

“Our budget will resource the fighting force we need, cease unnecessary defense spending, reject excessive bureaucracy, and drive actionable reform including progress on the audit.”

According to the memo, dated February 18, Hegseth ordered the proposed budget cuts to be finalized by February 24. The document outlines 17 categories that the Trump administration wants exempted, including southern border operations, nuclear weapons modernization, missile defense, submarines, one-way attack drones, and other munitions acquisitions.

The Washington Post added that senior Pentagon official Robert G. Salesses stated the savings from the proposed cuts could be “realigned” to support new priorities under the Trump administration, including the “Iron Dome for America,” President Donald Trump’s term for an expansive missile defense system.

The 2025 Pentagon budget stands at approximately $850 billion, with widespread agreement in Congress that substantial funding is essential to counter threats from China and Russia. If fully implemented, the proposed cuts would amount to tens of billions annually over the next five years.

Despite Hegseth’s stated focus on “revive the warrior ethos,” CNN reported that some defense officials responsible for drafting lists of civilian Pentagon employees to be fired as soon as this week are voicing concerns that the summary firings could break the law and harm US military readiness.

Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, condemned the proposed defense cuts as “hasty,” “indiscriminate,” and a move that would “betray our military forces and their families while making America less safe.”

“I’m all for cutting programs that don’t work, but this proposal is deeply misguided,” Reed stated. “Secretary Hegseth’s rushed, arbitrary strategy would have negative impacts on our security, economy, and industrial base.”

On February 12, Hegseth told NATO allies that “returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective.”