Bullets and lobster tails: Pentagon’s massive year-end spending spree in excess of $33 billion
The Defense Department went on its biggest monthlong spending spree since the height of the war on terror, dumping nearly $80 billion in a rush to empty its accounts before the end of the fiscal year.
In just the final five business days of September alone, the Pentagon spent $33.1 billion, according to Open the Books, a watchdog. That’s more in five days than nearly every other nation on earth spends in a year on their military.
The big-ticket spending items from September were to be expected: $3 billion on ammunition, and nearly $8 billion spent on aircraft.
But the Pentagon’s books also tallied 147 separate entries for raw lobster tail, at a cost of $6.1 million, and $16.6 million on ribeye steak.
Open the Books said the spending was part of the government’s perverse use-it-or-lost-it mentality, which dictates that if a program needs to spend every dollar it was budgeted — whether needed or not — or else Congress will trim its funding in the future. And since losing funding is akin to a bureaucratic plague, agencies find all sorts of creative ways to dump cash.
That means September, the end of the fiscal year, is traditionally the Pentagon’s biggest-spending month.
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But last year saw some real doozies in spending, including $113,230 on ice cream and $117,787 on fresh doughnuts.
The report comes just ahead of the confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the next defense secretary.
Lockheed Martin Corp. was the biggest winner in September’s spending, collecting $10.8 billion of the $79.1 billion spent. That’s twice as much as the runner-up, Raytheon Company, and roughly five times Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, which was No. 3 on the list.
Open the Books said September’s spending spree included:
• A total of $103.7 million on meat, poultry and fish, including the lobster tails, ribeye and $6.4 million on salmon.
• $81.1 million on fruit and vegetables.
• $5.1 million on Apple products.
• $36,000 on footrests.
• $12,480 for “piano tuning.”
Open the Books said there was some good news, at least compared to past boondoggles.
In September 2023, the Navy paid a $7,136 parking ticket for Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
