WATCH: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered a pointed warning at the National War College in Washington, D.C.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered a pointed warning at the National War College in Washington, D.C., on November 7, declaring that the most significant threat to America’s strength comes not from abroad, but from within its own defense establishment.
Introduced by Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg, Hegseth criticized the Pentagon’s entrenched bureaucracy—an expansive network of committees, consultants, and redundant offices that he says drains resources and weakens U.S. military readiness.
For decades, the Pentagon has evolved into one of the most complex bureaucratic systems in the world, employing over 750,000 civilian workers and managing a budget exceeding $850 billion.
Yet, despite record spending, much of it vanishes into administrative overhead, delayed contracts, and consulting fees, rather than directly enhancing defense capability.
According to defense auditors, nearly $220 billion of the Pentagon’s budget each year cannot be properly accounted for—a figure larger than the entire defense budget of most allied nations.
Hegseth has long argued that this bureaucratic sprawl has become its own ecosystem—one that rewards inefficiency and punishes innovation.
Programs designed to modernize military hardware routinely face years of delay as they pass through layers of committees and contracting offices.
Basic equipment orders can require signatures from dozens of different officials, and routine upgrades often cost taxpayers millions before a single prototype reaches the field.
The result, he says, is a defense establishment that consumes vast sums of money while producing less and less real-world capability.
His remarks at Fort McNair reflected a broader philosophy that has defined Hegseth’s career: that restoring America’s military power requires breaking through administrative paralysis.
Since taking office, Hegseth has emphasized combat readiness over bureaucracy, reallocating funds from management divisions toward field training, logistics, and recruitment.
He has also ordered a comprehensive audit of redundant offices within the Department of War, targeting outdated programs that continue to receive funding due to budgetary disorganization.
Hegseth’s approach represents a long-overdue reckoning with a system that has become increasingly focused on sustaining itself rather than defending the nation.
While adversaries like China and Russia channel resources directly into weapons and strategy, Washington still spends billions maintaining paperwork, oversight boards, and studies that rarely leave the conference room.
By framing the Pentagon’s bureaucracy as America’s greatest adversary, Hegseth is challenging one of the most powerful institutions in government.
His goal is clear—to restore the Department of War as an instrument of strength, not stagnation, and ensure that every dollar spent on defense serves those who fight, not those who file reports.
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