I'll see you those golfing trips, Aethelric, and raise you:

Pentagon celebrates snipping 0.58% from defense budget in IT, DEI cuts

$5.1B cancellations pitched as efficiency move, though costly Trump birthday parade mulled

The US Department of Defense (DOD) has canceled contracts for "consulting and other non-essential services" in the latest round of cuts conceived by Elon Musk's DOGE unit.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced the signing of a memorandum that terminates $5.1 billion in DOD contracts, emphasizing the "B" in "billion" – an accommodation for the impaired or perhaps just as a victory lap.

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"We're also terminating, on the DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] front, 11 more contracts for DEI, climate, COVID-19 response, and related non-essential activities across the department," Hegseth said.

Despite the mild belt-tightening, talk of a Trump birthday military parade has reportedly returned - this time penciled in for June 14, 2025, which doubles as his 79th birthday and Flag Day. The last time this idea rolled out, back in 2018, Trump scrapped the plan after Pentagon brass slapped a $92 million price tag on it and DC officials warned it'd cost another $21 million just to patch up the roads and cover public safety after the tanks and flyovers had their fun.

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.... see article in full, please. There's a surpisingly positive sting in the tail.