{"id":79487,"date":"2025-02-21T14:25:25","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T14:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:52:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:52:43","slug":"cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuts to staff, budget will boost military strength, Hegseth says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/01\/25\/hegseth-confirmed-as-next-defense-secretary-by-narrow-senate-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\">Defense Secretary Pete Hesgeth<\/a> on Thursday defended <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/19\/doge-is-getting-lists-of-militarys-probationary-workers-from-pentagon\/\" target=\"_blank\">looming staff cuts<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/19\/white-house-eyes-8-cut-to-defense-budget-to-boost-trump-priorities\/\" target=\"_blank\">budget reforms<\/a> as necessary to refocus the military on its core missions, promising the efforts will produce \u201cthe biggest, most bad-ass military on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/News-Stories\/Article\/Article\/4072698\/hegseth-addresses-strengthening-military-by-cutting-excess-refocusing-dod-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\">video message released Thursday evening<\/a>, Hegseth also lashed out at critics and the media for misrepresenting the pending moves as cuts to the military. He said President Donald Trump is committed to increasing resources for the armed forces, following through on campaign promises to boost defense spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBeginning right away, we are pulling around 8%, or $50 billion, from [former President Joe Biden\u2019s] budget plans,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will move away from woke, non-lethal programs and instead spend that money on President [Donald] Trump\u2019s priorities for our national budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re asking the services to plan. It\u2019s not a cut. It\u2019s refocusing and reinvesting existing funds into building a force that protects you, the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/19\/white-house-eyes-8-cut-to-defense-budget-to-boost-trump-priorities\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP24082819994235.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">White House eyes 8% cut to defense budget to boost Trump priorities<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The move could reduce defense spending projections by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next five years.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Wednesday, acting Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Salesses released a statement acknowledging that military agency leaders had been ordered to cut 8% from their initial fiscal 2026 Defense Department budget plans. That budget outline had been expected to top $850 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The news drew significant concern from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who were also informed that the moves could include an annual 8% cut for the next five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Hegseth in his video said that any savings would be reinvested into other areas of the defense budget. He also said numerous security priorities \u2014 such as southwest border activities, nuclear modernization efforts, Virginia-class submarine procurement, cybersecurity efforts and core readiness training \u2014 would not face any budget reductions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is great news for taxpayers and for our national security,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hegseth did acknowledge that the department is working closely with officials from the controversial Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which has spearheaded efforts to dramatically slash staffing at a number of federal agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defense secretary indicated that civilian worker staff cuts will come to his department soon, but said he believes the work will make military operations more efficient without compromising readiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBottom line, it is simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission critical, and to restore accountability within the federal workforce,\u201d he said. \u201cTaxpayers deserve to have us take a really thorough look at our workforce top to bottom, and to see where we can find and eliminate redundancy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hegseth said officials would start with \u201cpoor performers amongst our probationary employees,\u201d although dismissal efforts at other federal agencies have largely focused on job seniority and not worker performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also promised that military leaders will \u201chire and reward hard-working employees who are central to the core fighting mission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hegseth did not take any direct questions from reporters after the video\u2019s release. He also did not address rumors of plans to fire top military officials viewed by Trump administration officials as too closely connected to the last president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hegseth promised to reinvest budget savings in other military programs and jettison civilian workers who are not living up to expectations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":109943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,12,26,62],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-79487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2PFIHMCQERHK7GRQ74ZT44V35A","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cuts to staff, budget will boost military strength, Hegseth says - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hegseth promised to reinvest budget savings in other military programs and jettison civilian workers who are not living up to expectations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cuts to staff, budget will boost military strength, Hegseth says\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hegseth promised to reinvest budget savings in other military programs and jettison civilian workers who are not living up to expectations.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-21T14:25:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T15:52:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leo Shane III\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leo Shane III\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Cuts to staff, budget will boost military strength, Hegseth says\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2025-02-21T14:25:25+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T15:52:43+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 500,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP25045337766311.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Pentagon &amp; Congress\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Cuts to staff, budget will boost military strength, Hegseth says - Navy Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP25045337766311.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2025-02-21T14:25:25+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T15:52:43+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Hegseth promised to reinvest budget savings in other military programs and jettison civilian workers who are not living up to expectations.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP25045337766311.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP25045337766311.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/21\\\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"News\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"news\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Pentagon &amp; Congress\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"pentagon-congress\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 4,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Cuts to staff, budget will boost military strength, Hegseth says\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Navy Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/navy-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Navy Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cuts to staff, budget will boost military strength, Hegseth says - Navy Times","description":"Hegseth promised to reinvest budget savings in other military programs and jettison civilian workers who are not living up to expectations.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cuts to staff, budget will boost military strength, Hegseth says","og_description":"Hegseth promised to reinvest budget savings in other military programs and jettison civilian workers who are not living up to expectations.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/","og_site_name":"Navy Times","article_published_time":"2025-02-21T14:25:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T15:52:43+00:00","author":"Leo Shane III","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leo Shane III","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Cuts to staff, budget will boost military strength, Hegseth says","datePublished":"2025-02-21T14:25:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T15:52:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/"},"wordCount":500,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25045337766311.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily News Roundup","Home","News","Newsletters","Pentagon &amp; Congress"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/","name":"Cuts to staff, budget will boost military strength, Hegseth says - Navy Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25045337766311.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2025-02-21T14:25:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T15:52:43+00:00","description":"Hegseth promised to reinvest budget savings in other military programs and jettison civilian workers who are not living up to expectations.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25045337766311.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25045337766311.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/02\/21\/cuts-to-staff-budget-will-boost-military-strength-hegseth-says\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/","ad_zone":"news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Pentagon &amp; Congress","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/","ad_zone":"pentagon-congress"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Cuts to staff, budget will boost military strength, Hegseth says"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","name":"Navy Times","description":"Independent News For Sailors | Navy Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#organization","name":"Navy Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/navy-logo-white.png","caption":"Navy Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Navy Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP25045337766311.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79487"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99519,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79487\/revisions\/99519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79487"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=79487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}