Earlier this year, Townhall detailed how President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spearheaded by Tesla founder Elon Musk, was gutting several federal agencies that spent millions of dollars on woke initiatives.
It appears that some agencies have taken this as a warning sign. In fact, leaders in one branch of the United States military have offered to slash costs themselves instead of allowing DOGE to do so.
This week, a report emerged from NBC News claiming that Army leaders have struck a deal with DOGE. The Army will make drastic budget cuts themselves to avoid being slimmed down by DOGE.
Reportedly, this process began at a meeting at the White House in March that included Vice President JD Vance, a Marine veteran; Army Secretary Dan Driscoll; and the Army chief of staff, Gen. Randy George. Three defense officials confirmed this to NBC:
Soon after the meeting began, Musk joined them. Together, the four men discussed Driscoll and George’s plans to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in what they and other Army officials agree is wasteful spending. The two men's goal is to cut jobs, consolidate commands and radically change the Army acquisition process, the three officials said.
“We have been working to get the best, most lethal, most modern tools in the hands of our soldiers,” Col. Dave Butler, an Army spokesman, said in an email. “To do this we have to leave behind the anchor of obsolescence. We have to stop spending money on yesterday’s equipment and invest in war winning technology.”
Reportedly, George previously argued that there are too many general officer billets in the Army and that some of them can be eliminated. Additionally, Driscoll believes there are civilian roles that have become redundant or outdated.
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Not to mention, both leaders believe that some Army commands can be consolidated.
“By combining headquarters and reducing general officer billets, we will prioritize the maneuver formations who fight and win our nation’s wars,” Butler reportedly said.
In total, Army leaders are considering cutting 8 percent to as much as 20 percent of its civilian workforce, with an early estimate of about 20,000 cuts to start, NBC reported.
“Over the past twenty years staffs and overhead have become bloated and ineffective,” Butler reportedly said.
