The Hegseth budget: defense secretary’s $1.5tn ask reveals militaryindustrial chaos
Jul 23, 2026
The Pentagon head proposed a 44% increase – to second world war levels – while ‘woke’ programs are guttedUS politics live – latest updatesWhen the ‘“department of government efficiency” was raging unchecked through the federal government in February 2025, the US defense secretary, Pe
te Hegseth, ordered his subordinates to find cuts of 8% a year for the next five years, theoretically trimming a total of $340m from the Pentagon budget.The disclosure briefly sent Palantir and defense stocks tanking – though soon the plan evaporated, as if it never existed. Continue reading... ...read more read less