Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced that the Department of Defense (DOD) will cut $5.1 billion in “wasteful” spending.
In a video on Thursday, Hegseth said he was signing a memo directing the termination of $5.1 billion in DOD contracts. The cuts include contracts worth $1.8 billion for consulting services from private firms for the Defense Health Agency and a cloud IT services contract worth $1.4 billion.
Hegseth said the department was also cutting 11 contracts for “DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion], climate, COVID-19 response and related nonessential services.”
He said the department is also pausing over $500 million in funding to Northwestern University and Cornell University in support of President Donald Trump‘s priorities “to stop federal funding for academic institutions that tolerate antisemitism and support divisive DEI programs.”
“If you’re keeping score at home, today’s cuts bring our running total to nearly $6 billion in wasteful spending over the first six weeks of the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, effort here at the Defense Department,” Hegseth said. “Their job is to go out and find the stuff that we can get rid of and then flow back into, drive that back into war fighting capabilities here at the Defense Department.”
Anna Moneymaker
Musk’s Update
Elon Musk, who leads DOGE, on Thursday further scaled back the department’s savings aims.
During a White House Cabinet meeting, he said he expects $150 billion in savings in the 2026 fiscal year from the work done by DOGE.
“I’m excited to announce that we anticipate savings in FY26 from reduction of waste and fraud by $150 billion,” Musk said in the meeting. The billionaire added that these cuts “will actually result in better services for the American people and we’re going to be spending their tax dollars in a way that is sensible and fair and good.”
On the campaign trail last year, he floated cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget. Earlier this year, Musk backtracked on that amount, but said he was confident that DOGE could find $1 trillion in savings.
How Many Jobs Has DOGE Cut So Far?
Tens of thousands of job losses have been announced across various federal agencies.
Layoffs are underway at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which initially announced that it would eliminate 10,000 jobs as part of a major restructuring plan.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to eliminate its scientific research office and could fire more than 1,000 scientists and other employees, the Associated Press reported.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also plans to lose 18,000 employees, about 20 percent of its workforce. Last month, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who has since resigned, told Congress that the United States Postal Service (USPS) would cut 10,000 workers.
The Department of Education (ED) has announced plans to lay off more than 1,300 employees, while the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is planning a reorganization that includes cutting 80,000 jobs, according to an internal memo the AP obtained in March.
The Pentagon reportedly plans to cut its civilian workforce by about 50,000 to 60,000.
At least 24,000 probationary workers have been terminated since Trump took office in January, according to a lawsuit filed by almost 20 states alleging that the mass firings are illegal. In March, two federal judges ordered 19 federal agencies to reinstate fired probationary workers.
About 75,000 federal workers have accepted the Trump administration’s offer to resign and continue receiving pay and benefits until September 30.
How Much Spending Has DOGE Cut So Far?
DOGE said its efforts have saved the federal government an estimated $150 billion as of April 8. Musk initially said his goal was to trim $2 trillion from the federal budget. In January, he backtracked, saying there was a “good shot” of cutting half that amount.
DOGE said the receipts provided on its website—showing contract, grant and lease cancellations—represented about 30 percent of total savings, meaning the top-line figure is not yet verifiable.
According to the Musk Watch DOGE Tracker designed by data analyst Brian Banks, the verifiable savings were about $11.7 billion as of April 1, including actual savings from verifiable grants and contracts as well as real estate.
Is DOGE a Government Agency?
On January 20, his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order officially creating DOGE to modernize “federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”
Despite its name, DOGE is not a government agency created by an act of Congress, but a task force that targets waste and fraud in the federal government.