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Pete Hegseth: “The Department of War has the biggest chunk of 8 spending by…”

Featuring: Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense | National

Hegseth Announces Pentagon Taking 'Sledgehammer To The Oldest DEI Program'

Published January 17, 2026 | Video Starts at 03:28

So effective immediately, I'M ordering a line by line review of every small business sole source. 8. A contract that is over $20 million. And we'll look at everything smaller than that too. The Department of War has the biggest chunk of 8 spending by far. 10 times more than any other agency. So our cleanup, it's going to be 10 times tougher. It's a two stage mission. First, if a contract doesn't make us more lethal, it's gone. (03:28–03:35)

CLAIM

Asserts that the Department of War spends 10 times more on 8A contracts than any other agency.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Pete Hegseth

“The Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi recently exposed half a billion dollars in 8A fraud.”
Hegseth Announces Pentagon Taking 'Sledgehammer To The Oldest DEI Program' | Uploaded January 17, 2026 | 02:05-02:12
“Treasury, led by Secretary Besant, found another quarter billion [in 8A fraud].”
Hegseth Announces Pentagon Taking 'Sledgehammer To The Oldest DEI Program' | Uploaded January 17, 2026 | 02:12-02:16
“In the Pentagon, $100 million sole source contracts go out the door to these 8A firms almost every day.”
Hegseth Announces Pentagon Taking 'Sledgehammer To The Oldest DEI Program' | Uploaded January 17, 2026 | 02:28-02:38
“The Department of War is required by law to do almost $100 billion worth of contracts per year with small businesses, including 8A firms.”
Hegseth Announces Pentagon Taking 'Sledgehammer To The Oldest DEI Program' | Uploaded January 17, 2026 | 02:49-03:01
“I promised we would gut the corruptive, unconstitutional, non merit based DEI programs that have weakened our military.”
Hegseth Announces Pentagon Taking 'Sledgehammer To The Oldest DEI Program' | Uploaded January 17, 2026 | 00:17-00:26
“The 8A program has morphed into swamp code words for DEI race based contracting.”
Hegseth Announces Pentagon Taking 'Sledgehammer To The Oldest DEI Program' | Uploaded January 17, 2026 | 01:28-01:37
“In many instances, these socially disadvantaged businesses don't even do work. They take a 10%, 20%, sometimes 50% fee off the top.”
Hegseth Announces Pentagon Taking 'Sledgehammer To The Oldest DEI Program' | Uploaded January 17, 2026 | 01:38-01:50
“Treasury, justice, and the Small Business Administration under Administrator Loeffler are all actively investigating their 8A contracts…”
Hegseth Announces Pentagon Taking 'Sledgehammer To The Oldest DEI Program' | Uploaded January 17, 2026 | 02:18-02:28
“If a contract doesn't make us more lethal, it's gone.”
Hegseth Announces Pentagon Taking 'Sledgehammer To The Oldest DEI Program' | Uploaded January 17, 2026 | 03:39-03:43