This is how Pete Hegseth spent $90 billion from the Pentagon in one month

This excessive use of funds has occurred under the first year of the Donald Trump Administration, with Hegseth at the head of the War Department, formerly Defense.

These data have come to light after federal contracting records, which have been analyzed by organizations in charge of monitoring public spending.

The disbursement has unleashed harsh political criticism from the Democratic Party, which has led some members of Congress to demand an investigation. It is about an increase of 18% compared to spending during 2024, the last year with Joe Biden as US president.

The total volume of spending corresponds to the set of contracts signed by the War Department during last September, which include military acquisitions, technology, maintenance of defense systems and logistical services for the armed forces.

However, some specific contracts have generated special controversy after going viral in the media and social networks. The final days of the month saw the biggest spending, with up to $50 billion invested in the final work week of the annual budget.

Spending on luxury products

Purchases recorded in September include approximately 15 million dollars in beef steaks (steak), about 7 million in lobster tails and around 2 million in king crab of Alaska.

Although Hegseth himself has expressed displeasure in the past over his department’s tendency to have overweight generals and soldiers, the Pentagon did not reduce related costs.

In fact, this September included a significant disbursement of $124,000 in ice cream machines and $139,000 in donuts.

Although these purchases represent only a small fraction of the month’s total food spending for members of the U.S. Armed Forces, these examples have been used by critics of the military budget to question the management of public money.

Currently, according to data from the DLA – the agency in charge of the global food supply chain for the Armed Forces -, the monthly disbursement is around 250 million dollars. It is intended for products such as preserves, dairy products, potatoes and bakery.

This spending of around 22 million dollars just on luxury food for the military equivalent to the usual food budget. Furthermore, they are products that the Armed Forces do not usually consume as part of their ranch.

This acceleration in spending occurred in what some experts describe as the “Amazon Prime Day” of the Federal Administration. It refers to the period before September 30 in which agencies rush to use the remaining funds in their annual budgets to prevent them from expiring.

In any case, this waste did not only occur in food. Among the most notable items is information technology and telecommunications, which concentrated 5.9 billion dollars.

The Department of Defense made a significant investment in Apple technological devices and contracts for various equipment, from furniture for military installations even a grand piano destined for an official residence of the Air Force.

According to the data in this report, the Department of Defense spent at least 5.3 million dollars only in Apple storesincluding 400 new iPads at $315,200.

In addition, they also purchased the $98,329 Steinway grand piano for the chief of staff at the Air Force residence and a custom flute that cost $21,750.

Another of the large expenses corresponded to furniture for different facilities, which totaled 225.6 million dollars last September. A figure higher than the spending carried out under the Biden administration, but lower than what Obama had during his mandate.

The US fiscal year

Despite the flashiness of the spending numbers, some finance experts, such as economists Jeffrey Liebman and Neale Mahoney, have noted that as the fiscal year expires near, agencies have incentives to spend remaining funds before they disappear.

In the United States, Federal fiscal year ends September 30which creates incentives for the different federal agencies to use the allocated budget before losing it.

This phenomenon, known as “use-it-or-lose-it spending” (use it or lose it), causes many federal agencies to accelerate the signing of contracts in the last weeks of the year, to avoid losing this budget item.

In any case, the episode has revived the debate in Washington about the management of the enormous Pentagon budget, which exceeds $800 billion annually, and about the control mechanisms for public spending in the Department of Defense.

Given this pattern, some independent analysts and even senators from different political forces have proposed reforming the budget system to allow agencies to transfer part of their budget to the following year, which would reduce the pressure to spend funds before the end of the year.

The revelations have provoked reactions from the Democratic Party, where some leaders have already suggested that there could be fraud in the management of the Pentagon or mismanagement in the use of federal funds.

The leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Chuck Schumerconfirmed the spending figures. He called Hegseth a “real crook” and a “waster of Americans’ money.”

In addition, he accused the head of the Pentagon of not looking out for the interest of the American citizenry by increasing spending on unnecessary materials and luxury meals, while the executive headed by Donald Trump does not reduce the costs of medical treatments.

“Hegseth spent $93 billion in a single month, approximately what it would cost to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years,” Schumer said on social media.

At the same time, he added in his message a harsh criticism regarding the spending made by the Department of Defense during the Republican mandate.

“Instead of reducing healthcare costs for Americans, Hegseth spent millions of taxpayer dollars on fruit bowls, recliners, ice cream machines, Alaskan king crab and a grand piano,” Schumer added.

In parallel, the current governor of California, Gavin Newsomwent so far as to suggest that there must be some type of fraud in this important expense.

Among the solutions provided by independent analysts would be that each state department be authorized to carry over up to 5% of the budget to the following year to avoid hasty spending at the end of each financial year.

This is how they express it from Open the Booksel think tank conservador The Heritage Foundation or the former financial director of the Department of Defense, Robert Hale, who assure that this measure would avoid hasty waste.

Hale emphasizes that the waste occurs because there is a great fear from the different departments that the excess money will return to the US Treasury and could be deducted from future budgets, as it was not necessary during the previous year.