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4d ago

Private Defense Contractors Receive 54% of Pentagon Budget as Spending Set to Pass $1 Trillion

A bipartisan report warns lobbying ties paired with revolving-door hires have diverted taxpayer dollars in a “massive transfer of wealth” to defense firms.

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Overview

  • From 2020 to 2024 private companies secured $2.4 trillion of the Pentagon’s $4.4 trillion discretionary budget, representing 54 percent of total spending.
  • The top five contractors—Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, Boeing, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman—garnered $771 billion in awards over the same period.
  • Researchers project the Trump administration’s proposed budget will push annual US military outlays past the $1 trillion mark for the first time.
  • Defense contract awards have vastly outpaced the roughly $356 billion Congress allocated to diplomacy, development and humanitarian aid from 2020 to 2024.
  • Stephanie Savell and William D. Hartung argue that special-interest lobbying and inflated weapons programs have fueled waste and enriched entrenched contractors.