Pentagon ‘takes sledgehammer’ to oldest DEI program

The US Department of War will review its contracts with small businesses run by “socially and economically disadvantaged” people

The Pentagon will review all contracts worth over $20 million which it signed with small businesses under the 8A program, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has announced. Most of the firms operate as shell companies which funnel money to major consulting groups, he claimed.

Hegseth announced the audit on Saturday, stating that it will begin immediately. The move comes as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to eradicate the “corruptive, unconstitutional, non-merit-based” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in the military, he said. 

“We’re taking a sledgehammer to the oldest DEI program in the federal government, a program few people outside of Washington have ever heard of,” he stated.

The program to support companies run by “socially and economically disadvantaged” people was established in 1978 under Section 8A of the Small Businesses Act. Over the years, it has become a massive “breeding ground for fraud,” Hegseth claimed.

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“In many instances, these socially disadvantaged businesses, they don’t even do work. They take a 10%, 20%, sometimes 50% fee off the top, and then pass the contract off to a giant consulting firm, commonly known as Beltway Bandits,” he said, referring to consulting and research companies operating within Washington’s ring highway which perform lucrative contractor work for the US government.

“Effective immediately, I’m ordering a line-by-line review of every small business sole source 8A contract that is over $20 million. And we’ll look at everything smaller than that, too,” Hegseth said.

Any 8A contracts deemed to be not contributing to the US military’s “lethality” will be terminated, while those companies participating in the “pass-through schemes” for the Beltway Bandits will lose them as well, he warned.

The Pentagon has long been plagued by allegations of wasteful spending, opaque contracting, and questionable procurement practices, coupled with its ever-increasing budget. While the Trump administration has repeatedly pledged to fix the situation and make the military less wasteful and more “lethal,” it has already secured a record $901 billion war budget. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump pledged a massive 50% increase in defense spending to $1.5 trillion in 2027; the remarks sent defense stocks skyrocketing worldwide.