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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

Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Major Investigation at the Pentagon

Published January 20, 2026 | Video Starts at 03:28

So effective Immediately, I'm ordering a line by line review of every small business sole source. Eight 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 clean 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.”
Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Major Investigation at the Pentagon | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 02:05-02:13
“Treasury, led by Secretary Bessant, found another quarter billion [in 8A fraud].”
Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Major Investigation at the Pentagon | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 02:13-02:17
“In the Pentagon, $100 million sole source contracts go out the door to these 8A firms almost every day.”
Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Major Investigation at the Pentagon | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 02:29-02:39
“The Department of War is required by law to do almost $100 billion worth of contracts per year with small businesses, including 8A firms.”
Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Major Investigation at the Pentagon | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 02:50-03:02
“I promised we would gut the corruptive, unconstitutional, non merit based DEI programs that have weakened our military.”
Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Major Investigation at the Pentagon | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 00:17-00:26
“I promised we would hunt down the waste, the fraud and the abuse that has run rampant in this department for decades.”
Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Major Investigation at the Pentagon | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 00:30-00:36
“We're actually taking a sledgehammer to the oldest DEI program in the federal government, a program few people outside of Washington have…”
Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Major Investigation at the Pentagon | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 00:46-01:00
“The 8A program has morphed into swamp code words for DEI race based contracting.”
Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Major Investigation at the Pentagon | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 01:29-01:38
“In many, many instances, these socially disadvantaged businesses, they don't even do work. They take a 10%, 20%, sometimes 50% fee off the…”
Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Major Investigation at the Pentagon | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 01:38-01:58
“For decades, this program, 8A, has been a breeding ground for fraud.”
Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Major Investigation at the Pentagon | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 01:58-02:03
“Treasury, justice, and the Small Business Administration under Administrator Loeffler are all actively investigating their 8A contracts…”
Secretary of War Hegseth Announces Major Investigation at the Pentagon | Uploaded January 20, 2026 | 02:18-02:29