The Department of Defense officials and members of Elon Musk’s DOGE team have identified about $80 million in fat – so far – that can be trimmed at the Pentagon, the agency announced Monday.
A hodgepodge of numerous programs and expenses, including some Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiatives on the chopping block were rattled off by chief DOD spokesperson Sean Parnell in a social media post.
The Air Force earmarked nearly $2 million for holistic DEI transformation and training and the Defense Human Resources Activity – which provides personnel data management and analysis for the DOD – spent $3.5 million to support DEI groups, he said.
Another $6 million flowed to the University of Montana to strengthen American democracy by bridging divides and the University of Florida received $1.6 million to study social and institutional determinants of vulnerability and resilience to climate hazards in the Sahel region of Africa, Parnell noted.
The University of Florida program is supported via a grant from the Minerva Research Initiative that was started in 2008 by the DOD. It provides funding for research meant to better understand regions across the globe that are “of strategic importance to the US,” the school said online.
Parnell, in his Monday message, made clear the programs he listed are “not a core function of our military.”
“This is not what we do, this is a distraction from our core mission,” the former US Army airborne ranger said.
He said initial findings uncovered by the DOD and the Department of Government Efficiency will save about $80 million in wasteful spending – and more cuts will be coming.
“We are working hand in glove with DOGE so stay tuned in the weeks ahead as we trim the fat, preserve the muscle, make the DOD more mission capable and more lethal,” Parnell vowed.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously said he welcomes Musk’s team into the Pentagon to pinpoint unnecessary spending.
“There are wastes, redundancies and headcounts in headquarters that need to be addressed,” he said.
