National Defense

Trump Orders Sweeping Audit Of Bloated Pentagon Programs

An F-15 Eagle from the 12th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, flies next to a Russian Tu-95 Bear Bomber Sept. 28 during a Russian exercise near the west coast of Alaska. (U.S. Air Force photo)

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday ordering a review of all defense acquisition programs, slating over-budget and behind schedule expenditures for termination.

The order, titled “Modernizing Defense acquisitions and Spurring Innovation in the Defense Industrial Base,” gives Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth 90 days to review and consider the cancellation of major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs) that are 15% or more over-budget or behind schedule. Alongside Trump’s goal to increase the defense budget to a whopping $1 trillion next year, waste at the Pentagon has been a prime target for the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“Unfortunately, after years of misplaced priorities and poor management, our defense acquisition system does not provide the speed and flexibility our Armed Forces need to have decisive advantages in the future,” the order reads. “In order to strengthen our military edge, America must deliver state‐of‐the‐art capabilities at speed and scale through a comprehensive overhaul of this system.”

The Pentagon usually only considers cancelling programs that exceed their budgets by 50% or more, known as a “Nunn-McCurdy breach.” The current defense budget for fiscal year 2025 rounds out to $849.8 billion.

The Trump administration singled out specific programs it deemed wasteful in the order’s accompanying fact sheet, including the Air Force’s “Sentinel” Intercontinental Ballistic Missile program, which is “already two years behind schedule and 37% more expensive than originally promised.”

The projected $140 billion cost of the Sentinel program could be used to buy roughly ten Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers.

Other programs mentioned in the fact sheet include the new Air Force One, which is delayed until 2029 despite the contract being awarded in 2018.

Navy shipbuilding programs have been consistently behind schedule and over budget, with no new ships hitting the seas in two decades while the budget has doubled, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in April.

“With adversaries like China and Russia rapidly advancing their own military technologies, it is essential to prioritize speed, flexibility, and innovation to deliver cutting-edge capabilities to our Armed Forces,” the fact sheet reads.

The Pentagon referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to the Program Acquisition Cost By Weapons System report for March 2025, which lists the costs of various major weapons systems for fiscal year 2025.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect a referral from the Pentagon.