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Last Updated on February 21, 2025.

Washington, D.C. – Win Without War Executive Director Sara Haghdoosti released the following statement in response to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s memo directing Pentagon leadership to propose an 8% cut to portions of the defense budget:

“The American people want real cuts to the Pentagon’s bloated, unaccountable budget and have demanded that consistently year after year.

“They will see through President Trump and Secretary Hegseth’s smoke and mirror bad-faith money shuffle where the only winners will be Trump’s corporate allies. 

“For years, we have fought to rein in the waste, fraud, and abuse baked into the Pentagon’s nearly $900 billion budget. If there are genuine efforts within this plan that lead to meaningful reductions in corruption or corporate profiteering, we welcome them. However, all signs point to this being a money-shuffling exercise that entrenches a different kind of self-dealing rather than truly reforming how the Pentagon operates. 

“A meaningful reduction in spending should target corruption, including the revolving door between defense contractors and top military brass, strengthen oversight to crack down on waste and fraud, and end runaway programs like the F-35 that drain billions with no accountability. But if early reporting is accurate, Hegseth’s ‘cuts’ risk leaving the real sources of Pentagon excess untouched—while siphoning billions toward Trump’s corporate cronies.

“Trump and Hegseth are touting cutting the Pentagon budget – because those ideas are popular. Instead of delivering on those they are using a populist cover to pursue an extreme agenda of  border militarization, contractor handouts, and revamping the nuclear arsenal, which Trump himself recently called dangerous and expensive.

“Meanwhile, the latest Senate budget resolution is calling for a $300 billion increase in so-called national security spending. The Trump administration is trying to have it both ways—pretending to slash the budget while funneling billions into loopholes and contractor’s pockets. This is not reform. It’s self-dealing at its most blatant.

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Win Without War is a diverse network of activists and national organizations working for progressive foreign policy in the United States.

February 21, 2025