DOD cuts $580M in programs, contracts and grants

U.S. Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth listens as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks in the Oval Office of the White House on March 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. Hegseth issued a memo Thursday announcing significant cuts to his agency's contract, grant and program spend. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The Pentagon is eliminating over $580 million in programs, grants and contracts across the department that it called “wasteful spending,” with a long-stalled software modernization program accounting for almost half of the cuts.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the spending drawback in a memo released on Thursday, writing that the terminated expenditures were “inconsistent with the priorities of the DOD.” In addition to the topline figure, Hegseth also wrote that the move would result in approximately $170 million in estimated savings which could be reallocated across the department.

The most noteworthy termination was a human resources software development ...