Trump administration reportedly orders Pentagon to plan for expansive cuts
Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, has apparently ordered to develop plans for cutting 8% from the defence budget in each of the next five years, the Washington Post reported, citing a memo obtained it.
According to the memo, Hegseth has ordered the proposed cuts to be drawn up by February 24. The memo also includes a list of 17 categories that the Trump administration wants exempted.
The categories include operations at the southern US border, modernisation of nuclear weapons and missile defence and acquisition of one-way attack drones and other munitions.
The proposed cuts would include tens of billions of dollars in each of the next five years if the plans are adopted in full, the media report mentioned.
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The Pentagon’s budget for 2025 is some $850 billion. Lawmakers across the political spectrum agree that massive spending is needed to deter threats, especially from China and Russia. The cuts, if implemented in full, would reduce that figure by tens of billions each year to some $560 billion by the end of the five years.
The memo also calls for continued “support agency” funding for several major regional headquarters, including Indo-Pacific Command, Northern Command and Space Command.
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Is the European command missing from the list?
The report mentioned that the European command, which has had a leading role in executing US strategy during the war in Ukraine; the central command, which oversees operations in the Middle East; and the Africa Command, which manages the several thousand troops the Pentagon has spread across that continent, were notably absent.
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In the memo, which is dated Tuesday, Hegseth wrote, “President Trump’s charge to DoD is clear: achieve peace through strength,” in the memo, dated Tuesday.
The time for preparation is over – we must act urgently to revive the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and re-establish deterrence. Our budget will resource the fighting force we need, cease unnecessary defence spending, reject excessive bureaucracy, and drive actionable reform including progress on the audit.
(with inputs from agencies)
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