Pentagon Reveals $80 Million in Savings Following Initial DOGE Review

March 4, 2025 TruthUSA

Press secretary Sean Parnell stated that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, along with climate change programs, are ‘not a core function of our military’ and are seen as ‘a distraction.’

On March 3, a spokesperson confirmed that the Department of Defense (DOD) has pinpointed over $80 million in wasteful expenditures, identified through Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team.

In a video posted on social media platform X, Pentagon press secretary Sean Parnell remarked that a portion of this funding was mainly allocated to DEI initiatives and climate change programs.

“This stuff isn’t a core function of our military… this is a distraction,” Parnell asserted. “We believe these preliminary findings could save about $80 million in unnecessary spending.”

Examples cited by Parnell included a $1.9 million allocation by the U.S. Air Force for “holistic DEI transformation and training,” $6 million given to the University of Montana to “enhance American democracy,” and $1.6 million provided to the University of Florida for research on “social and institutional vulnerabilities in resilience to climate hazards in the African Sahel.”

Parnell mentioned that the DOD is collaborating “hand in glove” with DOGE to identify programs for reduction, signaling that further cuts are anticipated.

Established by President Donald Trump via an executive order in January, DOGE has been assessing various agencies to identify what it deems wasteful or abusive spending and recommending measures to downsize the federal workforce.

Musk, who is the founder of Tesla and SpaceX as well as the proprietor of the social platform X, has been providing frequent updates regarding DOGE’s endeavors, along with advisories to federal staff via his X account, which boasts tens of millions of followers.

Recently, Musk noted that every federal agency is collaborating with DOGE and confirmed that a second round of inquiries was sent out to employees regarding their weekly activities.

According to Musk, “supervisors are collecting the weekly achievements on behalf of individual contributors” for the State Department, the Pentagon, and several other departments, as stated in a post on March 1.

Separately, Musk indicated that “anyone involved in classified or sensitive matters is still obligated to respond to the email, but they can simply indicate that their work is sensitive.”

An email dispatched to Pentagon civilian staff over the weekend, which was reviewed by The Epoch Times, provided instructions on how to reply to the “what you did last week” inquiry and emphasized the need for responses within 48 hours.

“Responding to this email fulfills all OPM requirements for the past two weeks,” the Pentagon email stated.

Democratic lawmakers and labor unions have criticized DOGE, arguing that extensive cuts could impede essential government operations and services. Various unions and groups representing federal employees have also filed numerous lawsuits against DOGE, the Trump administration, the Office of Personnel Management, and Musk, with some seeking to clarify the billionaire’s involvement in the organization.

In Trump’s cabinet meeting this past week, Musk mentioned that the email inquiry was necessary to ascertain whether a person is a legitimate federal employee.

“What we are trying to uncover is the possibility that there are several individuals on the government payroll who are deceased, which might explain why they can’t respond,” he explained.

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