Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon splurged $22M on gourmet food in a single month, watchdog says

WASHINGTON, DC: The Pete Hegseth–led Pentagon apparently had expensive tastes last fall.

According to a new analysis from government watchdog Open the Books, the Defense Department burned through about $22 million on steak, lobster, and other seafood in September 2025. It was reportedly part of a broader end-of-year spending rush that saw the military sign off on a staggering $93.4 billion in grants and contracts during that single month.

Nearly half of that eye-watering total was approved during the final five business days of September, according to the report.

The findings come from the nonprofit watchdog run by the American Transparency charity, which was founded in 2011 and tracks federal spending in detail. 

Surf-and-turf September

The Pentagon’s September menu starts to look like a high-end steakhouse when you dig into the numbers.

The report from Open the Books found that during the month, the Defense Department spent $2 million on Alaskan king crab, $6.9 million on lobster tail, $15.1 million on ribeye steak, and $1 million on salmon.

Dessert wasn’t off the table either. The Pentagon also placed 272 orders of doughnuts totaling $139,224 and shelled out another $124,000 for ice cream machines, according to the analysis.

The shopping spree came as part of the Defense Department’s year-end push to spend down its budget.

While the Pentagon doesn’t technically have to use every dollar allocated by Congress, longstanding “use-it-or-lose-it” rules often push agencies to do exactly that. Any leftover funds can be cut from the following year’s budget, creating an incentive for departments to finalize purchases before the fiscal year closes.

Speaking to Open the Books, the CEO of Govly (an AI company that helps government contractors navigate federal procurement) compared September 30 to “Amazon Prime Day” for the federal government.

The Pentagon’s end-of-year shopping habit

Food isn’t the only category where spending spikes were found.

The report pointed out that furniture has historically topped the military’s September wish list. Since 2008, the Defense Department has spent an average of $257.6 million on furniture every September, which is a massive jump compared with the rest of the year.

The group noted in its report, “Furniture is near the top of the military’s wish list at the end of every fiscal year. Since 2008, the DoD has spent an average of $257.6 million on furniture every September — a 564% increase above the norm. In months besides September, furniture costs the military only $38.8 million on average.”

According to the analysis, the Defense Department spent more than $7.4 million on lobster during four other months in 2025, namely March, May, June, and October.

Some purchases were rather lavish. In September, the department spent nearly $100,000 on a Steinway & Sons grand piano to furnish the home of the Air Force chief of staff. It also spent $5.3 million on Apple devices, including brand-new iPads, according to the report.

Pete Hegseth's calls to cut waste

Last year, Hegseth himself had talked about rooting out waste inside the Pentagon.

In February 2025, during an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business, the defense secretary said he welcomed the involvement of the former Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire Elon Musk to help identify wasteful spending within the Defense Department.

Hegseth said he expected to uncover “hundreds of billions” in unnecessary expenses.

“We need to know when we spend dollars, we need to know where they’re going and why that simple accounting, and that has not existed at the Defense Department,” Hegseth said at the time. “We’re going to fix that.”

The spending report quickly drew reactions on social media.

Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, shared an AI-generated image showing Hegseth relaxing in a plush recliner surrounded by a grand piano, stacks of iPads, and plates piled high with lobster tail and steak. "HEGSETH BLOWING $93 BILLION OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS IN 1 MONTH !!" the caption read.

Still, the report notes that Hegseth’s Pentagon may not be the biggest offender in the long history of federal year-end spending.

During the presidency of Barack Obama, the federal government routinely spent between $300 million and $400 million on furniture in September each year, according to the analysis.

Furniture spending later dropped under Joe Biden, though the report notes that his first two years in office coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, when large numbers of federal employees were working from home.