Trump said he will cut U.S. military aid to Israel. What that means : NPR

Switching U.S. aid to Israel from the State Department to the Pentagon…

 https://www.npr.org/2026/11/09/nx-s1-6029320/us-trump-israel-military-aid

 

Hegseth fires the Pentagon's top military planner even as Trump considers new Iran strikes | PBS News

He is the latest in nearly two dozen generals, admirals and other military leaders to be fired, forced to retire or otherwise depart under Hegseth's tenure — almost all of which have not been publicly explained by the Pentagon. That includes the civilian secretaries of the Army and Navy as well as some top uniformed officers for the military services…

 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/hegseth-fires-the-pentagons-top-military-planner-even-as-trump-considers-new-iran-strikes

 

Elon Just Made A BIG PROBLEM For The U.S. Military

SpaceX is reportedly retiring Falcon 9, the rocket responsible for 85% of American launches last year, and has already turned down the Space Force's requests for three satellite missions. With competing rockets sidelined and some military satellites incompatible with Starship, the Pentagon faces a serious problem: the company it depends on for critical launches is moving on to something more profitable. Add SpaceX's controversial role in Ukraine's drone operations and its $2.29 billion Golden Dome contract, and the risks of handing essential government functions to private companies become increasingly difficult to ignore.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNoYt91hPhk

 

The Pentagon Gave Contracts to Alvarez & Marsal Federal, a Firm Closely Tied to a Senior Defense Official — ProPublica

No-Bid: In June, the Pentagon signed a $281 million consulting contract with a firm tied to a Pentagon powerbroker. 

Old Ties: George K. Kollitides II was brought into the Pentagon under Steve Feinberg, the deputy defense secretary and a former colleague in the private equity world. 

Hidden: Experts said a no-bid consulting contract under a mechanism designed to secretly develop weapons prototypes was extraordinary…

 https://www.propublica.org/article/george-kollitides-pentagon-contracts-alvarez-marsal

 

Hegseth puts the future of warfare in the hands of major Maga donors

Installing tech billionaires Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey to Pentagon defense board raises conflict-of-interest concerns…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/01/hegseth-musk-warfare-taskforce

 

Prosecutorial Indiscretion (Andrew McCabe and Allison Gill; Unjustified podcast)

The Legal Accountability Center filed bar complaints on Tuesday accusing U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and two lieutenants of violating their ethical duties in seeking to charge six Democratic lawmakers.

A federal judge has re-blocked the Trump administration’s executive order curtailing mail in voting after the Supreme Court lifted her previous block last week.

Three journalists dismissed from Stars and Stripes are suing the Pentagon accusing the government of violating their First Amendment rights and asking the courts to stop their termination.

Two election monitors from the Justice Department tried to interview voters and examine voting machines at polling places during Wyoming’s primaries last week, drawing pushback from the state’s Republican governor.

Plus listener questions.
Interview: 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/prosecutorial-indiscretion/id1317481380?i=1000786786915

Pentagon claims to have found ‘hidden’ files on final days of the Afghanistan war - POLITICO

Republicans have long accused former President Joe Biden's administration of covering up mistakes made in the final days of the conflict...

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/26/pentagon-afghanistan-withdrawal-documents-01050485

Pentagon fires publisher and editor of US military news outlet Stars and Stripes

Max Lederer and Erik Slavin receive termination notices after publication reported on crew conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/21/pentagon-fires-publisher-editor-stars-stripes-uss-abraham-lincoln

 

Pentagon threatens to cut federal funding to 30 universities over foreign academic partnerships

Harvard, Yale, Stanford and others face directive to review and cut alliances Pentagon deems national security risk…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/18/pentagon-funding-colleges-harvard 

 

Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon picks raise questions over Trump family business ties

The appointments by the US defense secretary not only appear to increase the influence of rightwing ideologues, autonomous weapons manufacturers, and one-time clients of authoritarian states on the world’s most powerful arsenal, but to potentially put the financial interests of the US president’s family at the heart of setting US strategic priorities...

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/11/pete-hegseth-pentagon-picks-trump-family-business

 

Pentagon reports more than 600 Iran war casualties in quiet database update

Figures are source of dispute as US defense department days ago reduced record of troops killed and wounded…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/26/pentagon-iran-war-troop-deaths-casualty-report

 

Trump administration’s revision of Iran war casualties ‘huge disrespect’, say veterans

“It’s such a huge disrespect for the families,” said Michael E Smith, a retired US rear admiral and the founder of National Security Leaders for America. “To claim that they weren’t killed as a result of the war – oh, it was just overseas operations – is just ludicrous.”…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/27/trump-administration-iran-war-casualties-veterans 

 

Pentagon accused of cover-up over US military casualties in Iran war

The Pentagon is taking a “shameful approach” to releasing information about US casualties in the Iran war, Leon Panetta, a former defence secretary and CIA director, has told the Guardian. 

The defence department has not held a press briefing for two and a half months. Officials have faced accusations that they are engaged in a cover-up designed to hide the true cost of Donald Trump’s war of choice in Iran, fearing a public backlash before November’s midterm elections...

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jul/25/pentagon-iran-war-casualties-cover-up

 

Pentagon reports more than 600 Iran war casualties in quiet database update

Figures are source of dispute as US defense department days ago reduced record of troops killed and wounded…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/26/pentagon-iran-war-troop-deaths-casualty-report

 

List of soldiers killed in Iran war removes most recent four

“Let me explain this absurd ruse: The Pentagon is pretending there have been two Iran wars separated by a brief cease-fire,” Massie wrote on social media. “The reality: By going more than 90 days without congressional authorization,” the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, “IS BREAKING THE LAW and must be held accountable”…

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/23/pentagon-service-members-killed-iran

 

Number of U.S. Troop Deaths in Iran War Appears Lower on Pentagon Website - The New York Times

Three military officials and a Pentagon spokesman gave conflicting explanations for why the number of Americans killed in the Iran war had changed...

 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/us/politics/iran-troop-deaths.html

 

Why'd the Pentagon Pay $4,361 for a $46 Pin? Private Equity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Dl8zdB2klQ 

The billionaire hidden behind the curtain inside Trump’s Pentagon

Feinberg has unprecedented control over the Pentagon’s vast procurement network, and a remarkable new ability to invest in defense companies with taxpayer dollars, all to remake the so-called industrial base of the military contracting world. 

Both his critics and his supporters say Feinberg shredded the old cumbersome rules of government weapons acquisition and seems to have turned the Pentagon into its own private equity powerhouse...

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/18/stephen-feinberg-trump-pentagon

 

The Pentagon’s updated religious list is STILL a mess!

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E-PUk6dJQbI

Pentagon likely to cancel missile sale to Germany over fears of Russia - POLITICO

U.S. officials fear Moscow will retaliate if the Trump administration follows through on the effort to deploy precision missiles in the middle of the continent, according to two European officials and one American official. But any decision not to deliver them would yank back a deal made during the Biden administration and leave Berlin without defenses German leaders say they desperately need.

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/04/us-germany-tomahawks-missiles-cancel-00950284