Hegseth vows to shrink the Pentagon — and then announces plans to grow it The Defense secretary announced several major initiatives that appear to contradict his efforts to cut the department’s bloat. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gives a "State of the Force" address at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Quantico, Virginia, on Sept. 30, 2026. | Alex Wong/AP Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday pulled together hundreds of troops to lay out cuts to the Pentagon’s bureaucracy — and ended up announcing major plans to add to it. At first, the Pentagon chief’s “State of the Force” speech at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, sounded similar to his more publicized talk last year, where he declared new grooming and fitness standards and vowed to get rid of “fat generals and admirals.” He touted an effort Wednesday to monitor testosterone levels and cut 20% of the military’s top officers — particularly those he considered too “woke” for their jobs.
But Hegseth then took an abrupt U-turn, declaring a half-dozen new initiatives that are likely to add to the Pentagon’s budget — among them a combatant command for drones, a commission led by SpaceX founder Elon Musk and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and a new military base that the Pentagon chief said governors could compete over to house in their states. The moves appear in some instances to be in direct contrast with Hegseth’s campaign to slash red tape, cut rules that hamper the military’s “lethality” and decrease the top-heavy nature of the armed forces. From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy.
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