It was not uncommon for the United States Army Corps of Engineers to hand out pamphlets offering federal assistance for municipal infrastructure projects to bolster local communities across the nation.
The problem? The money didn&#8217;t always exist.
Some of the advertised services were not covered by an approved federal budget and amounted to empty promises, according to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle.
This is just one of the many issues detailed by Telle&#8217;s &#8220;Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork” <a href="https://www.nao.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Stories/Article/4411097/assistant-secretary-of-the-army-for-civil-works-announces-building-infrastructu/">initiative</a> at a Pentagon roundtable discussion last week. He’s hoping to bring more efficiency to the department known most recently for its work in Southern California after the 2025 wildfires.
The 27 different initiatives aim to rein in bureaucratic bloat within the department. One of those initiatives is “consistency in communication of the president’s budget,” which would avoid more pamphlet mishaps by making it clear what the federal government can and cannot cover.
“Their mode has been out there to market to see ‘Hey, bring us more work. Bring us more work,’ instead of focusing on delivering the things that are nationally strategic,” Telle told The Daily Wire.
Other key initiatives outlined include scrapping “inactive projects,” improving prioritization, and ending contracts not considered beneficial.
In another example, he cited a Port Everglades project in South Florida with a price tag of $3.2 billion. In reality, it should have only cost $600 million to “deepen and widen” the key commerce hub.
“It’s because of all the processes and all the environmental concerns, all the, you know, lack of leadership to say ‘Hey, let’s be reasonable.’ Yes, we need to mitigate the environment, but it doesn’t need to cause a project to be 5X [the cost],” he said. “I mean, our competitors around the globe are not paying 5X for a port based on these types of concerns.”
It’s no secret that the Trump administration has been aiming to cut contracts and other efforts it has deemed unnecessary, most notably through the Department of Government Efficiency. Last April, War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the War Department would scrap $5.1 billion in contracts.
&#8220;We need this money to spend on better health care for our warfighters and their families, instead of $500 an hour business process consultant,&#8221; Hegseth said at the time. &#8220;That&#8217;s a lot of consulting.&#8221;
The month prior, he had announced $580 million in cuts.
As for the engineering corps, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll stated that “continuous Army transformation is about rapidly delivering war winning capabilities to the Army today, not years in the future. But that’s not all; we’re also transforming at home, too.”

Pete Hegseth

Empty Promises To Billion-Dollar Blowouts — A Federal Cleanup Begins At The Pentagon

Major Efficiency Effort Aims To Cut Bloat For Army Engineers: 'Transforming At Home'

Army

Army Corps of Engineers

Pentagon

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has directed Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to remove Colonel Dave Butler from his role as chief of Army public affairs and senior advisor, the latest in a series of leadership changes at the Pentagon tied to ongoing efforts to reshape senior military ranks.
On Thursday, Hegseth ordered Driscoll to remove Butler from his post even though Driscoll had resisted the move for months because of Butler’s role in Army transformation efforts and communications leadership. The order came just before Driscoll was to leave for Geneva to assume leadership of the U.S. delegation in ongoing talks on the Ukraine war.
In a statement <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/02/17/pete-hegseth-dan-driscoll-david-butler/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzcxMzA0NDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzcyNjg2Nzk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NzEzMDQ0MDAsImp0aSI6IjM1NTk0ZDBjLWY1NmQtNDlkNC1hZTQyLTBjNDFlNWQxMjgxOCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9uYXRpb25hbC1zZWN1cml0eS8yMDI2LzAyLzE3L3BldGUtaGVnc2V0aC1kYW4tZHJpc2NvbGwtZGF2aWQtYnV0bGVyLyJ9.2kXkZH7uJuJMTsWNZIda10tbo6UwQGf_ycpMPittFpY">sent</a> to The Washington Post, Driscoll thanked Butler for his service: “We greatly appreciate Col. Dave Butler’s lifetime of service in America’s Army and to our nation,” adding that Butler has been “an integral part of the Army’s transformation efforts” and wishing him success in his upcoming retirement after 28 years in uniform.
Butler had also served as the head of public affairs for the Joint Chiefs of Staff when General Mark Milley was chairman, a tenure that placed him in a leadership circle viewed critically by the Trump-aligned Pentagon team. Milley’s tenure became a flash point in the Trump era. As chairman of the Joint Chiefs during the previous administration, he drew public criticism from Trump allies after reportedly reassuring Chinese military officials during the 2020 transition that the U.S. would not attack, a development Trump himself <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111111513207332826">called</a> “an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH.”
The Pentagon later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-era-of-accountability-hegseth-strips-gen-mark-milleys-security-detail">revoked</a> Milley’s personal security detail and his security clearance, and multiple Pentagon investigations were <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2025/05/20/senators-demand-new-investigation-into-former-gen-milleys-conduct/">ordered</a> into his conduct.
Those actions by Hegseth — stripping Milley’s security detail and opening a formal inquiry — were widely covered in Pentagon reporting at the time and stem from long-running tension between Milley and Trump-aligned political leadership over the general’s calls with foreign counterparts and public statements about civilian control.
Butler’s association with Milley and his role as a senior communications officer under him have not been publicly cited by the Department of War as the official reason for his removal; however, the timing and the ongoing pattern of personnel changes at the Pentagon suggest internal disagreements over leadership philosophy and messaging are at work.
Since taking office, Hegseth has been reshaping senior roles across the Department of Defense. Fox News has <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/secdef-hegseth-responds-rumors-he-drafted-list-military-officials-he-purge">reported</a> that multiple senior officers, including four-star leaders across service branches, have been replaced, retired, or moved out of key positions amid what the War Department describes as a refocusing of leadership toward mission priorities.
Butler’s removal is especially notable because his name appeared on promotion lists for two consecutive years for his first star, but Hegseth has delayed approvals for several officers selected by the Army board, in part over concerns about those choices. Butler volunteered to withdraw his own name from the list to help clear the logjam.
The directive to remove Butler comes as the Pentagon continues to balance internal leadership changes with ongoing international commitments, and will likely draw scrutiny from lawmakers and military observers watching how the department manages personnel decisions amid fragile peace talks in both Europe and the Middle East that require a united front by American military command.

President Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting At The White House

Hegseth Just Canned Top Pentagon Official

Department of War

Executive

Politics

WASHINGTON — The Department of War reduced its civilian workforce by more than 10% last year, according to Pentagon data first obtained by The Daily Wire.
The War Department&#8217;s civilian workforce decreased from 794,538 to 712,677 employees last year, The Daily Wire has learned, resulting in a net reduction of 81,861 employees, about 10.3%. The reduction in force is one way War Secretary Pete Hegseth, under the direction of President Donald Trump, has worked to strengthen the American military.
&#8220;The goal was straightforward: eliminate redundancies and ensure the Department operates as a well-oiled machine for our warfighters,&#8221; a War Department official shared. “Doing this is fully aligned with the president’s priorities.”
Hegseth <a href="https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4189049/dod-uses-voluntary-reductions-as-path-to-civilian-workforce-goals/">announced in March 2025</a> that reductions in the workforce were part of his larger plan to rebuild the military in the spirit of the Trump administration. Hegseth emphasized that to minimize involuntary separations, he wanted to ease the path towards voluntary reductions.
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&#8220;To deliver on my commitment to urgently rebuild our military, revive the warrior ethos and deliver maximum deterrence, we must aggressively refocus every available resource towards our core mission,&#8221; Hegseth said. &#8220;We will realign the size of our civilian workforce and strategically restructure it to supercharge our American warfighters consistent with my interim National Defense Strategy guidance.&#8221;
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<div id="attachment_1044737" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heres-how-much-the-war-department-reduced-its-workforce-in-2025/u-s-president-trump-visits-uss-george-washington-in-japan-3" rel="attachment wp-att-1044737"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1044737" class="wp-image-1044737 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2243728587-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2243728587-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2243728587-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2243728587-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2243728587.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)</div>
The War Department also hired 29,347 new employees and processed 109,441 departures in 2025. Of those departures, 14,606 were involuntary departures, and 94,835 were voluntary departures.
Under the 2025 Voluntary Deferred Resignation Program, civilian employees could submit a voluntary resignation with an effective date of September 30, 2025, while still receiving full salary and benefits. That program received 70,481 applications, resulting in 49,991 signed separation agreements.
Additionally, some 6,600 employees left the War Department using the Voluntary Retirement Authority program.
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Hegseth has argued throughout his tenure as the Secretary of War that his objectives are &#8220;restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding our military and reestablishing deterrence.&#8221; The most fundamental of those three, he said, is &#8220;restoring the warrior ethos.&#8221;
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&#8220;Everything starts and ends with warriors in training and on the battlefield,&#8221; he told top military leaders at Quantico in April 2025. &#8220;We are leaving wokeness and weakness behind. And refocusing on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards and readiness.&#8221;
At the time, he noted that the War Department was &#8220;optimizing the civilian workforce, ensuring that we have the right employees in the right roles, at the right time to support our warfighters.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re doing this by voluntary means, to the greatest extent possible, through offerings like voluntary early retirement and separation initiatives,&#8221; he added, describing how the Pentagon was also ending telework and remote work culture, expecting employees to deliver results and respond to leadership needs.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a lot of change very quickly,&#8221; he said at the time. &#8220;Now as you may have noticed, the media likes to call it chaos. We call it overdue. How are the men and women responding to this — to this call? Well, I can tell you personally it&#8217;s going better than we could have ever expected. This department, and you know it, across the joint force is filled with patriots who want nothing more than to focus — be laser focused on serving their country. And that&#8217;s why retention is rebounding as well, big time, in real time.&#8221;
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President Trump Visits Fort Bragg To Honor U.S. Forces

Here’s How Much The War Department Reduced Its Work Force in 2025

War Secretary Pete Hegseth <a href="https://x.com/rebekazeljko/status/2020998100072964167">gave a characteristically blunt answer</a> Monday when asked about the “choke points” in the defense production pipeline.
“You identified several policy changes the department was implementing to actually speed up and expedite some of the production,” a reporter said to Hegseth. “I was wondering, what are the specific choke points that you guys have encountered when it comes to regulations? What are the issues, what&#8217;s the hang-up at some of these production facilities, why have we seen delays on certain projects?”
“A lot of the hang-up has been us,” Hegseth acknowledged. “If we don&#8217;t look at ourselves first, the way we do business, we&#8217;ve been impossible to deal with. A bad customer who year after year changes our mind about what we want or what we don&#8217;t want, and then we make little, small technological changes, which makes it more difficult for them to produce what they need to produce on time.”
“So we have to fix our own house first,” he declared, “provide clarity, simplify the system, allow more people to access it, give that steady demand signal, which is what we&#8217;re doing with munitions. I encourage folks to look at the deals we&#8217;ve cut recently with Raytheon, with Boeing, with other companies, Lockheed, on Patriot missiles, on THAADs [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems], on other exquisite munitions. That&#8217;s groundbreaking stuff.&#8221;
“Our department&#8217;s never done that,” he continued. “The Deputy Secretary, Steve Feinberg, is a whiz kid on these things, putting these deals together. The companies are investing because they know we&#8217;re going to be buying into the future. That&#8217;s just good business. We haven&#8217;t operated that well that way before. And then things like requirements, there&#8217;s mazes of requirements that this department has traditionally put on different systems and platforms that are impossible to navigate and by the time you navigate them, you&#8217;re five years behind the actual technology.”
“So we&#8217;re going to companies and say, ‘Tell us what you can do based on the parameters of what kind of capabilities we&#8217;re looking for, say, in Indopaycom or Southcom or out in Europe, and let&#8217;s tailor it accordingly,’” he concluded.
The U.S. Army recently finalized a <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/land/2025/09/03/us-army-awards-lockheed-record-98-billion-missile-contract/">multibillion-dollar</a> deal with Lockheed Martin for the production of PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptors. This month, Raytheon <a href="https://www.rtx.com/news/news-center/2026/02/04/rtxs-raytheon-partners-with-department-of-war-on-five-landmark-agreements-to-exp">signed</a> five framework agreements with the U.S. Department of War to significantly increase production capacity and accelerate deliveries of several high-demand systems.

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

‘We’ve Been Impossible To Deal With’: Hegseth Vows To Fix Pentagon’s ‘Bad Customer’ Behavior

Department of Defense

Military

The Department of War gave an ultimatum to Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, to roll back its woke policies and DEI initiatives or lose its continued partnership with the military.
“From Day One at the War Department, we have made it very clear: No more DEI at DoW. Zero tolerance,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell shared in a statement posted to X. He went on to say that the department had been “reviewing its relationship” with the Boy Scouts after the organization had “lost its way.” 
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STATEMENT:
From Day One at the War Department, we have made it very clear: No more DEI at DoW. Zero tolerance.
As a result, over the past several months, the Department of War has been reviewing its relationship with Scouting America—formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America.…
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanParnellASW/status/2018495511360053609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
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“[F]or more than a decade now, Scouting America&#8217;s leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values of this administration and this Department of War, including an embrace of DEI and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances. This is unacceptable,” the statement continued. 
He said their partnership with scouts, including support of the National Jamboree celebration, was in jeopardy, but now they are “near a final agreement&#8221; as Scouting America has “firmly committed to a return to core principles. Back to God and country—immediately!”
The statement concluded that Scouting America will continue to partner with the Department of War, provided it “rapidly implements” common sense reforms. “They are on the clock, and we are watching,” the post warned. 
Scouting America provided a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/02/03/hegseth-boy-scouts-scouting-america/">statement</a> to the Washington Post Tuesday evening, saying, “For nearly 116 years Scouting has stood as a cornerstone of American ideals, good citizenship, service, and adventure for American youth. We are encouraged by tonight’s social media post by the Pentagon, and we look forward to providing more details as we move ahead.”
In November, NPR <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/11/25/nx-s1-5615164/pentagon-scouting-hegseth-cut-ties">reported</a> that the Defense Department was planning to cut funding and support to Scouting America due to it becoming an organization designed to &#8220;attack boy-friendly spaces.” The documents allegedly criticized the organization for promoting DEI principles. One memo quoted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as saying, &#8220;The organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys.&#8221;
The Boy Scouts have long served as a natural bridge to the military. The Pentagon formally backed the organization beginning in 1937, supplying trucks, doctors, medics, logistical support, and even aviation demonstrations at the National Jamboree. For the military, it doubled as a valuable recruiting channel: Eagle Scouts routinely entered at higher ranks, and about 20% of service-academy cadets came from scouting backgrounds.
But that reputation changed over the years. The group rebranded itself from Boy Scouts to Scouts BSA in 2018 and became “Scouting America” in 2025. This was all in an effort to allow girls to join and be more inclusive, but ultimately led to drastic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/boy-scouts-want-to-include-everyone-but-now-no-one-wants-to-join?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Boy+Scouts+Want+To+Include+Everyone%2C+But+Now+No+One+Wants+To+Join">membership drops</a>.

Boy Scouts

Hegseth’s War Department Says Boy Scouts Must Roll Back Woke Or Lose Military Support

Pentagon Says Boy Scouts Will Roll Back Woke Policies, DEI Initiatives

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Wokeness

WASHINGTON—The Department of War will modernize Stars &amp; Stripes, The Daily Wire has learned, refocusing the military news outlet so it better serves &#8220;a new generation of service members.&#8221;
The independent news outlet authorized by the Department of War is meant to provide news for the military community. The publication has been in continuous circulation since World War II and covers the military, veterans affairs, and world events.
Until now, it has republished content from the Associated Press and Reuters. This will no longer be the case, War Department officials explained to The Daily Wire. They plan to bring the publication &#8220;into the 21st century&#8221; and modernize its operations, refocusing content &#8220;away from woke distractions that siphon morale.&#8221;
“The Department of War is returning Stars &amp; Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters,&#8221; Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told The Daily Wire. &#8220;We are bringing Stars &amp; Stripes into the 21st century. We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that siphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1028217" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pentagon-refocuses-stars-stripes-on-reporting-for-our-warfighters/us-news-texas-hegseth-3-ft" rel="attachment wp-att-1028217"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1028217" class="wp-image-1028217 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255455251-900x576.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255455251-900x576.jpg 900w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255455251-300x192.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255455251-768x491.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2255455251.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /></a>Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (Amanda McCoy/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)</div>
Parnell said the publication will be &#8220;custom-tailored&#8221; to the War Department&#8217;s soldiers, focused on &#8220;warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY.&#8221;
&#8220;No more repurposed D.C. gossip columns,&#8221; he added, &#8220;no more Associated Press reprints.&#8221;
&#8220;Stars &amp; Stripes has a proud legacy of reporting news that’s important to our service members,&#8221; Parnell said. &#8220;The Department of War is committed to ensuring the outlet continues to reflect that proud legacy.”
It is a move condoned by the White House, which applauded the move as an example of how President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration is modernizing institutions across the country.
“The Department of War, under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, is continuing to revitalize, restore, and modernize,&#8221; White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Stars and Stripes is just the latest example of a broader effort to adapt long-standing institutions to how today’s service members live, work, and consume information.&#8221;
Currently, Stars &amp; Stripes has civilian staff who aggregate wire reports and write original stories. Going forward, the War Department officials shared, the publication&#8217;s content will be written by active-duty service members.
Fifty percent of the website&#8217;s content will be composed of War Department-generated materials, including digital or print materials made by War Department writers and images captured by combat cameras.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Rocket Lab, Long Beach, rocket production

Pentagon Refocuses ‘Stars & Stripes’ On ‘Reporting For Our Warfighters’

The United States is interdicting and seizing a vessel off the coast of Venezuela in international waters, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Saturday, a move that comes just days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a &#8220;blockade&#8221; of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.
This would mark the second time in recent weeks that the United States has seized a tanker near Venezuela and comes amid a large U.S. military build-up in the region.
The officials, who were speaking on the condition of anonymity, did not say where the operation was taking place but added the Coast Guard was in the lead.
The Coast Guard and Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Venezuela&#8217;s oil ministry and state oil company PDVSA did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
&#8220;I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,&#8221; Trump said on Tuesday.
In the days since U.S. forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week, there has been an effective embargo in place, with loaded vessels carrying millions of barrels of oil staying in Venezuelan waters rather than risk seizure.
Since the first seizure, Venezuelan crude exports have fallen sharply.
While many vessels picking up oil in Venezuela are under sanctions, others transporting the country&#8217;s oil and crude from Iran and Russia have not been sanctioned, and some companies, particularly the U.S.&#8217; Chevron, transport Venezuelan oil in their own authorized ships.
China is the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude, which accounts for roughly 4% of its imports, with shipments in December on track to average more than 600,000 barrels per day, analysts have said.
For now, the oil market is well supplied and there are millions of barrels of oil on tankers off the coast of China waiting to offload. If the embargo stays in place for some time, then the loss of nearly a million barrels a day of crude supply is likely to push oil prices higher.
Since the U.S. imposed energy sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, traders and refiners buying Venezuelan oil have resorted to a &#8220;shadow fleet&#8221; of tankers that disguise their location and to vessels sanctioned for transporting Iranian or Russian oil.
The dark or shadow fleet is considered exposed to possible punitive measures from the U.S., shipping analysts have said.
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As of this week, of more than 70 oil tankers in Venezuelan waters that are part of the shadow fleet, around 38 are under sanctions by the U.S. Treasury, according to data from TankerTrackers.com. Of those, at least 15 are loaded with crude and fuel, it added.
Trump&#8217;s pressure campaign on Maduro has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have killed at least 100 people.
Trump has also said that U.S. land strikes on the South American country will soon start.
Venezuela&#8217;s President Nicolas Maduro has alleged that the U.S. military build-up is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the OPEC nation&#8217;s oil resources, which are the world&#8217;s largest crude reserves.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart and Marianna Parraga; Editing by Alison Williams, Sergio Non and Franklin Paul)

Venezuela Oil Tanker

U.S. Seizes Vessel Off Venezuelan Coast, Officials Say

Global Politics

Venezuela

World

WASHINGTON—The War Department is rewarding its highest performers with monetary awards worth 15 to 25% of base pay, The Daily Wire can first report, rewards intended to reflect the &#8220;historic successes&#8221; of the past 10 months.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth directed all War Department department heads and principal staff assistants to &#8220;take immediate action to recognize and reward [the] very best&#8221; of the department&#8217;s civilian workforce with &#8220;meaningful monetary awards consistent with the relevant existing civilian awards authorities for each pay system,&#8221; according to a memorandum for senior Pentagon leadership first obtained by The Daily Wire.
The move comes amid Hegseth&#8217;s efforts to reinvigorate the War Department. Throughout the past year, Hegseth has repeatedly emphasized his focus on restoring the warrior ethos, promoting discipline and lethality, readiness, accountability, and standards. He has also repeatedly discussed his commitment to promoting President Donald Trump&#8217;s America First agenda and prioritizing American freedom and prosperity.
&#8220;Make no mistake about it,&#8221; he said earlier this month, &#8220;President Trump is hellbent on maintaining and accelerating the most powerful military the world has ever seen; the most powerful, the most lethal and American-made … the arsenal of freedom.&#8221;
The distribution of bonuses — which could reach up to $25,000 — is also in line with the Trump administration&#8217;s broader efforts to make the federal government function more like a private-sector business.
All civilian government employees are eligible for the bonuses, though political SES (Senior Executive Service) and Schedule C (general schedule) employees are excluded. War Department leaders are instructed to effectuate the awards no later than January 30, 2026. While the Department of War has given out bonuses in the past, this is the first time in recent memory that the department has taken this type of coordinated approach, specifically led by Hegseth and his Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg.
The memo, titled &#8220;Recognition of Outstanding Department of War Civilian Employees,&#8221; emphasizes that civilian employees have played an essential and foundational role in driving American military successes since &#8220;the dawn of the Republic.&#8221; It also focuses on the successes and hardships of the past year, specifically mentioning the government shutdown.
&#8220;Over the past 10 months, Department of War (DoW) civilians upheld that proud tradition through their steadfast support of the worldwide mission of the Department,&#8221; the memo states, &#8220;including historic successes in defending the homeland and securing peace in the Middle East &#8211; and their dedication to executing the transformational changes necessary to revive the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence.&#8221;
&#8220;These achievements have not been easy,&#8221; the secretary&#8217;s memo continues. &#8220;The uncertainty and adversity inherent in all periods of change can test even the most elite workforce. Further, the longest Government shutdown in American history imposed severe strain on our civilian workforce. The resilience our civilian teammates have demonstrated throughout this challenging time is an inspiration and deserves to be recognized.&#8221;
&#8220;I am enormously grateful for the incredible contributions of our entire civilian workforce, and I am proud to work with everyone in the Department, military and civilian, in defending our Nation,&#8221; Hegseth concludes.

President Trumps Holds Mexican Border Defense Medal Presentation

Hegseth Orders Christmas Bonuses For War Department Top Performers

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the “Seditious Six,” the Democrats who urged service members to disregard what they called illegal orders from the Trump administration, The Daily Wire has learned. The FBI is now scheduling interviews with the members of Congress involved.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), and Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) appeared in a video urging service members and intelligence officers to &#8220;refuse illegal orders.&#8221;
Both the DOJ and the FBI confirmed to The Daily Wire that they are scheduling interviews with these lawmakers. After this story was published, the six lawmakers put out a joint statement accusing the president of &#8220;using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass Members of Congress.&#8221;
In their Nov. 18 video, the lawmakers said: &#8220;We want to speak directly to members of the military and the intelligence community who take risks each day to keep Americans safe.&#8221;
<blockquote>
&#8220;We know you are under enormous stress and pressure right now. Americans trust their military, but that trust is at risk. This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens. Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this constitution. Right now, threats to our constitution aren&#8217;t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.&#8221;
&#8220;Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our constitution. We know this is hard, and that it&#8217;s a difficult time to be a public servant. But whether you are serving in the CIA, the army, or navy, the air force, your vigilance is critical. Know that we have your back, because now, more than ever, the American people need you.&#8221;
</blockquote>
President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the lawmakers should be arrested and tried for &#8220;seditious behavior,&#8221; saying their actions were &#8220;punishable by death.&#8221; The president later clarified that he was &#8220;not threatening death&#8221; to the lawmakers, but rather pointing out the severity of their conduct.
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has also denounced the video, calling it &#8220;despicable.&#8221; Hegseth, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/despicable-reckless-and-false-hegseth-coins-new-nickname-for-dems-pushing-military-insurrection?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=11&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=%E2%80%98Despicable%2C+Reckless%2C+And+False%E2%80%99%3A+Hegseth+Coins+New+Nickname+For+Dems+Pushing+Military+Insurrection">coined the term</a> &#8220;Seditious Six&#8221; to describe the Democratic lawmakers, argued that while the video may seem harmless to civilians, &#8220;it carries a different weight inside the military.&#8221; 
&#8220;This was a politically-motivated influence operation: It never named a specific &#8216;illegal order.&#8217; It created ambiguity rather than clarity,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It used carefully scripted, legal-sounding language. It subtly reframed military obedience around partisan distrust instead of established legal processes.&#8221;
&#8220;In the military, vague rhetoric and ambiguity undermines trust, creates hesitation in the chain of command, and erodes cohesion,&#8221; Hegseth warned. &#8220;The military already has clear procedures for handling unlawful orders. It does not need political actors injecting doubt into an already clear chain of command. As veterans of various sorts, the Seditious Six knew exactly what they were doing — sowing doubt through a politically-motivated influence operation. The [Department of War] won’t fall for it or stand for it.&#8221;
On Monday, the Department of War singled out Kelly, stating that it had &#8220;received serious allegations of misconduct against Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.).&#8221; Kelly is still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice because he is a retired Naval officer.
&#8220;In accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. § 688, and other applicable regulations, a thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures,&#8221; the War Department said. &#8220;This matter will be handled in compliance with military law, ensuring due process and impartiality.&#8221;
Meanwhile, Kelly and his fellow Democrats argue that the president and the War Department seek to intimidate them from encouraging troops to disobey &#8220;illegal&#8221; orders — though on Monday, Sen. Slotkin <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/11/23/elissa-slotkin-video-troops-disobey-donald-trump-cannot-name-one-illegal-order-martha-raddatz-abc/">admitted on ABC News</a> that she could not cite any illegal order issued by Trump.
&#8220;If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work,&#8221; Kelly said in a post that described his service in the United States Navy. &#8220;I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Donald Trump can try to intimidate me, but it’s not going to work. My job is to defend the Constitution and hold any president accountable. <a href="https://t.co/FzfW8qQz5f">pic.twitter.com/FzfW8qQz5f</a>
— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenMarkKelly/status/1993173763299721688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
The lawmakers released a joint statement on November 20, saying in response to Trump: &#8220;This isn’t about any one of us. This isn’t about politics. This is about who we are as Americans. Every American must unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence. This is a time for moral clarity.&#8221;
“In these moments, fear is contagious, but so is courage. We will continue to lead and will not be intimidated,&#8221; they argued, adding, as they did in the closure of their video: “Don’t Give Up the Ship!”

Mark Kelly 10/28/25

DOJ, FBI Launch Investigation Into ‘Seditious Six’ Democrats, Interviews Set To Begin

Donald Trump

Mark Kelly

Just over one month after his landmark meeting with the military&#8217;s top brass, War Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered an explanation for his crusade against the &#8220;beardos&#8221; who did not adhere to the military&#8217;s personal grooming standards.
Hegseth, who mentioned the &#8220;beardos&#8221; in his speech to the gathered military leaders in late September, said on Wednesday that he was referencing the rapidly growing number of men at the Pentagon who had claimed affiliation with the Nordic Pagan or Old Norse religion in an apparent attempt to skirt the military&#8217;s shaving regulations.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨WATCH: <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecWar</a> goes NUCLEAR on &#8216;beardos&#8217;: “Do you know how many troops claim to be Nordic pagan?” <a href="https://t.co/AYUKc6zJbr">https://t.co/AYUKc6zJbr</a> <a href="https://t.co/eQnss2q0Sn">pic.twitter.com/eQnss2q0Sn</a>
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/1988659385862848925?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 12, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I also said we don&#8217;t need to be a military of beardos anymore,&#8221; Hegseth said. &#8220;Do you know how many troops claim to be Nordic Pagan?&#8221;
Over laughter from around the room, he continued, &#8220;No, suddenly it&#8217;s become this real religious, fake religious affiliation inside the Pentagon where troops claim to be Nordic Pagan so they can grow a beard — and no one challenges them on it because no one has upheld standards for a long time. So now a quarter of the platoon is sporting beards because they&#8217;re now suddenly Nordic Pagans. We&#8217;re not doing that stuff anymore.&#8221;
&#8220;There will be some people that say, well, Pete, why would a secretary care about beards and PT standards?&#8221; he added. &#8220;When you let the small things go inside your formations, you create a climate of a lack of discipline, where standards cannot be enforced. If you can&#8217;t enforce them on the small things, it gets far more difficult to enforce them on even more meaningful things &#8230; the entire command structure is flipped upside down.&#8221;
While many men who practice the Nordic Pagan religion do grow beards in order to honor specific gods or simply to express masculinity and status, they are not required to.
Military men are expected to keep their faces clean-shaven both for the uniform appearance and because the issued protective masks — designed to protect service members in the event of a gas attack — may not seal properly if the wearer&#8217;s face is not smooth.

Pete Hegseth Explains How The Pentagon Came To Be Filled With ‘Beardos’

Pete Hegseth Explains How The Pentagon Came To Be Filled With 'Beardos'

A senior State Department adviser who had repeatedly met with Chinese government officials was arrested after investigators discovered more than a thousand pages of classified documents at his home, according to the FBI.
The Justice Department announced Tuesday that 64-year-old Ashley Tellis was arrested by the FBI over the weekend and charged with the unlawful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act. Tellis has worked for the State Department since 2001 and has a Top Secret security clearance.
An FBI raid of his Vienna, Virginia, home on October 11 found more than 1,000 pages of documents marked “Top Secret” or “Secret,” according to an FBI <a href="https://ecf.vaed.uscourts.gov/doc1/189114572546">affidavit</a>. The document also said that Tellis had met with Chinese government officials to discuss international affairs and received a red gift bag at one such meeting. 
“We are fully focused on protecting the American people from all threats, foreign and domestic. The charges as alleged in this case represent a grave risk to the safety and security of our citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan. “The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”
Tellis, an expert on India and South Asian affairs, is a naturalized American citizen who was born and raised in India. He had been a contractor for the Office of Net Assessment at the Pentagon and is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
&#8220;Ashley J. Tellis is a widely respected scholar and senior policy advisor. At the next court hearing in the Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday and in our related filings on Monday, we will be vigorously contesting the allegations brought against him, specifically any insinuation of his operating on behalf of a foreign adversary,&#8221; lawyers for Tellis said in a statement to The Daily Wire. 
On September 12, the affidavit says that surveillance footage captured Tellis arriving at a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility at a Pentagon building in Alexandria, Virginia, where he “had a co-worker print multiple classified documents for him that day.” Later, after he had left, investigators found a document marked “TOP SECRET” in a file folder at a cubicle used by Tellis, the FBI said. He returned on October 10, allegedly putting the documents into his briefcase before leaving the building. 
In a different instance, Tellis entered a State Department building on September 25 and printed hundreds of pages of secret information on Air Force techniques and procedures, the affidavit says. He also printed additional information on military aircraft capabilities, according to the FBI. 
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“The documents were generally found in four locations: (1) a four-drawer locked filing cabinet in a closet in the basement home office area; (2) a two-drawer locked filing cabinet in the basement home office area; (3) in the vicinity of a desk in the basement home office area; and (4) in three large black trash bags in an unfinished storage room in the basement,” the affidavit says. 
The FBI also said that Tellis had multiple meetings with Chinese officials at Northern Virginia restaurants from September 15, 2022, to September 2, 2025. 
The first meeting occurred at a restaurant in Fairfax when Tellis allegedly arrived with a manila envelope, and Chinese officials arrived with a “gift bag,” according to the affidavit. Tellis left without the manila envelope, the FBI said.
During a different meeting in Fairfax on April 11, 2023, Tellis allegedly discussed Iran-China relations and artificial intelligence. On March 19, 2024, Tellis was overheard talking about America’s relationship with Pakistan with Chinese officials, according to the affidavit. 
At the most recent meeting, Tellis was given a red gift bag by Chinese officials on September 2 in Fairfax, according to the FBI.
If convicted, Tellis could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Profile Shoot Of Ashley Tellis, Senior Associate With Carnegie Endowment For International Peace

State Dept Insider Charged Under Espionage Act After Mishandling Secret Docs, Meetings With China

Communist China

Crime

State Department

Virginia

The Secretary of War and the President of the United States spoke before hundreds of top U.S. military leaders on Tuesday.
This event had been touted for a few days in advance. The idea was to have all the top U.S. military brass gather at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. 
There was a lot of speculation about the meeting. Was it going to be an announcement about Ukraine? Or China? Or was it going to be about Venezuela?
It turns out, it was going to be a speech from Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War, and a speech from the President of the United States, about recalibrating our military approach, particularly internally.
Pete Hegseth has spoken about this a lot over the past few years. I recorded an episode of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhVMY0AxZd0">Sunday Special</a> with Pete Hegseth about a year ago. He had a new book out, “The War on Warriors,” in which he wrote about wokeness in the military, lowered standards in the military, and the fact that more militaries around the world were not fearing us as much because we had implemented all of these left-wing ideologies within the military. This has legitimately been a big bugaboo of Hegseth’s for years.
Well, now he has the opportunity to change all of that because, of course, he sits atop the Department of War.
The event, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/30/hegseth-military-meeting-trump-generals/">The Washington Post</a>, was organized by Hegseth&#8217;s team at the Pentagon. He summoned generals and admirals from command posts throughout the world to Virginia.
General Dan Caine, Trump&#8217;s hand-selected Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told attendees in his opening comments that the event was an unprecedented opportunity, and an honor for assembled senior officers and their top enlisted advisers to hear directly from the military civilian leadership. 
Hegseth was going after wokeness in the military again, and he railed against what he called “Fat dudes and men in dresses.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2290-warfighters-hegseth-trump-launch-assault-on-woke-military"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-974957 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
So, optically, yes, I understand the Left being very, very upset about it. But it happens to be something that the American people agree with, along with the people who enlist in our military. Journalists around the nation are very, very upset about what Pete Hegseth did yesterday because they believe the military should be a place for social engineering, as opposed to a place for warfighters.
Well, Secretary Hegseth was a grunt. He&#8217;s a person who served in the trenches, and on the front lines. And that means he is significantly more in touch with the feelings of people who actually serve in the military, than certainly the people in the world of journalism — and truthfully, more than many of these sorts of political generals who have spent the last 40 years rising in the ranks.
Which means that recalibrating along those lines is actually not a bad thing at all.
As Secretary Hegseth <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/defense-secretary-hegseth-addresses-senior-military-leaders/666410">said yesterday</a>:
<blockquote>Frankly, it&#8217;s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it&#8217;s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It&#8217;s a bad look. It is bad. And it&#8217;s not who we are. So, whether you&#8217;re an Airborne Ranger or a “Chairborne Ranger,” a brand new private, or a four star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and pass the PT test.</blockquote>
This, apparently, was very upsetting to folks. 
He also went after what he called “Dudes in dresses,” which was a specific reference to the fact that under the Biden administration, there were legitimate videos of troops doing drag as an attempt to drive people into the military. I can&#8217;t think of anything that would drive the types of young men who want to join the military away from the military more than men in drag.
Honestly, that does not seem like a recruiting pitch for the U.S. military. And you can see it in the numbers. The Biden administration was having a very, very difficult time fulfilling its recruiting quotas. From literally the minute Pete Hegseth was announced as Secretary of Defense, those numbers began to rise.
Hegseth then <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/defense-secretary-hegseth-addresses-senior-military-leaders/666410">said</a>: 
<blockquote>This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department, to rip out the politics. No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses, no more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusions. No more debris. As I&#8217;ve said before and will say again, we are done with that sh**.</blockquote>
People are apparently angry about this. And there&#8217;s also a fair bit of gaslighting going on here. 
So the way that this works is that when the Left takes over an institution, they skew that institution. And then, when somebody who is not on the Left takes over the institution and says, “We&#8217;re going to unskew it,” the Left then says, “How dare you do this? How dare you politicize?”
They do this with so many institutions in American life. For example, take higher education, a domain once designed to actually create better American citizens, people who are supposed to be in touch with their civilization. They took an institution that was supposed to be at least titularly nonpartisan and made it highly partisan in favor of the Left.
And then people get into power who are not on the Left. And they say, &#8220;Let&#8217;s shift it back. Let&#8217;s shift it back toward the center.&#8221; And the Left says, “How dare you touch our hallowed institutions? How dare you attempt to change the underlying politics of that institution?”
The same thing in the military. There is an attempt by the Left to hijack the military and use it for a wide variety of social engineering causes, ranging from climate change to DEI to gender identity.
And now, when the Right takes over and says, “Hey, we&#8217;re not going to do any of that stuff, we&#8217;re actually going to go back to the status quo where the military was about winning wars,” the Left responds, “How dare you? How dare you politicize? How dare you intervene? How dare you get involved in politics?” This is an exercise in gaslighting.
The Left is perfectly willing to gut these institutions and wear their faces around like a mask from “The Silence of the Lambs.” But the minute the Right says, “Let&#8217;s restore those institutions to what they were before,” the Left then claims politicization.
It’s nonsense.

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