Wasted dollars for defense disadvantages the warfighter.
President Donald Trump is turning the attention of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to the Department of Defense (DOD). Should anyone ask why the focus is on the DOD, the Willie Sutton Rule is the answer. When Sutton, a notorious bank robber in the 1930s, was asked by a journalist why he robbed banks, he famously replied, “Because that’s where the money is.” The same can be said for the Pentagon with its $850+ billion budget.
The Bigger the Agency, the Bigger the DOGE Target
The bigger an agency’s budget, the bigger the opportunity for waste and inefficiency. Since the DOD took shape on Aug. 10, 1949, when the innocuously named National Security Establishment was redesignated the Department of Defense, it has had the largest discretionary budget in the…
