Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be Defense secretary, at the completion of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
On this third point, Hegseth said Thursday's other cuts included wasteful spending on external consulting services.
"30 million bucks in contracts with Gartner and McKinsey. That's IT purchasing unused licenses. So when you add it all up, $580 million in DoD contracts and grants DOGE is helping us cut today," Hegseth said.
When added up all together, Hegseth said that over $800 million in wasteful spending has been canceled over the first few weeks, as DoD partners with DOGE "to make sure that our warfighters have what they need by cutting the waste, fraud, and abuse."
HEGSETH DIRECTS DOD CIVILIAN WORKFORCE TO COMPLY WITH MUSK’S DOGE PRODUCTIVITY EMAIL
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers remarks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Pentagon on Feb. 5 in Arlington, Va. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
"They're working hard. We're working hard with them. We appreciate the work that they're doing, and we have a lot more coming. So stay tuned," Hegseth said.
"So, might as well not waste any more time right now, just sign this thing. How about that? So this makes it official. We're going to keep going for you guys," Hegseth said while signing the orders.
"Have we ever seen this level of transparency? Amazing, thank you @SecDef," Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., commented on Hegseth's post.
Back in February, Hegseth committed to cooperating with DOGE to cut wasteful spending at the Department of Defense.
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"We will partner with them. It's long overdue. The Defense Department's got a huge budget, but it needs to be responsible," Hegseth previously told Fox News.
As of Thursday afternoon, 239 "wasteful" contracts with a "ceiling value" of $1.7 billion have been terminated over a two-day period, DOGE announced.
Fox News Digital's Deirdre Heavey and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
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