Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Pentagon to cut its number of four-star active-duty and National Guard leaders by a minimum of 20%, according to a new memo.
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Tony Bertuca is chief editor of Inside the Pentagon, the flagship publication of InsideDefense, where he focuses on defense budget and acquisition policy. He previously worked for the Sun-Times News Group in his hometown of Chicago, IL, and at the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, NH. Tony has also served as managing editor of Inside the Army. He has a master's degree in journalism from Boston University.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Pentagon to cut its number of four-star active-duty and National Guard leaders by a minimum of 20%, according to a new memo.
The Defense Department has begun a 90-day "sprint" to develop a new framework and implementation plan for accelerating the acquisition of software, according to a new memo from a senior Pentagon official.
Senior defense officials are scheduled to speak at several public events this week, including congressional hearings.
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought today defended the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2026 request for defense spending, which senior Senate Republicans say is built around a “gimmick” that amounts to a flat topline that does not keep pace with inflation.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby to begin working on the next National Defense Strategy to be completed no later than Aug. 31, according to a new memo.
President Trump plans to request $961 billion for the Pentagon in fiscal year 2026 and $1 trillion for total national defense spending, which is being touted as a 13% increase, but a senior GOP senator says there is budget gimmickry at work.
President Trump intends to nominate outgoing national security adviser Mike Waltz as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be assuming Waltz’s duties in addition to his current job.
The Pentagon has spent the first 100 days of the new Trump administration responding to numerous policy initiatives, including an 8% budget “re-look” for fiscal year 2026, job cuts to DOD's civilian workforce, changed guidelines for cancelling major programs and more.
The House Armed Services Committee voted 35-21 today to pass a GOP budget reconciliation bill that would increase defense spending by $150 billion, bypassing the objections of Democrats who said they doubted the money will be spent wisely by the Trump administration, noting the controversy surrounding Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and billionaire presidential adviser Elon Musk.
Senior defense officials are scheduled to appear at several public events this week, including the Modern Day Marine Conference.
Congressional Republicans have released a budget reconciliation bill that would increase defense spending in the coming years by $150 billion, updating a previous draft proposal with new investment amounts.
New senior Pentagon advisers have been named while the forced departures of several of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's senior team members, including his chief of staff and deputy chief of staff, are being characterized by the department as "regular workforce adjustments" that are "a feature of any highly efficient organization."
Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services committees working on the defense section of the GOP's upcoming reconciliation bill are set to unveil a $150 billion multiyear spending package that injects money into about a dozen different areas, including shipbuilding, Golden Dome missile defense, aircraft and more.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whom a former spokesman recently described as having "the month from hell," returned to his previous employer Fox News today to allege that media reports about his role in sharing sensitive military plans on unsecure Signal group chats are the work of "disgruntled employees" who have been fired for leaking to the press.
The Trump administration is preparing to launch a major re-write of the Federal Acquisition Regulation that governs the annual purchase of about $1 trillion in goods and services, of which the Defense Department is the largest consumer.
The Senate voted 60-25 late last night to confirm retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff.
President Trump has signed an executive order aimed at reforming the U.S. foreign military sales process, requiring the phased implementation of a new plan intended to accelerate the process and create new accountability metrics.
The Senate Armed Services Committee today voted to approve the nominations of several key Pentagon nominees, including retired Air Force Lt. Gen. John Caine to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have promised $1 trillion in defense spending as Congress awaits the White House’s submission of a "skinny budget" later this month, but Washington analysts have questions about what could actually be in store for the Pentagon's topline.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) said today he expects the White House to send Congress a fiscal year 2026 "skinny budget" before the end of the month.