Senator Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, made waves during an appearance on Fox News when he suggested a drastic change for the Pentagon while discussing potential defense budget cuts.
The lawmaker, who is also a former college football coach, proposed a new approach to streamline the Department of Defense, coining an unexpected term in the process.
A New Word for Pentagon Reform
When asked by Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham whether the Department of Defense would face cuts, Tuberville responded with a phrase that caught many by surprise.
“We need to make a trigon – three sides instead of five sides of the Pentagon,” he said.
The comment, while unconventional, was his way of emphasizing the need to downsize what he referred to as a “way too big” and “way over-bloated” defense establishment.
Tuberville’s unusual word choice added a touch of humor to his serious point about reigning in defense spending.
His idea was to drastically reduce the size and structure of the Pentagon, aligning it with what he saw as a more efficient model.
Pentagon’s Expansive Budget and Need for Cuts
This call for reform comes after the House of Representatives passed a budget blueprint earlier this week that includes an additional $100 billion in defense spending over the next ten years.
The Pentagon’s current budget, a hefty $850 billion, has been criticized for failing audits seven times in a row.
Tuberville’s comments came amid increasing calls for the government to tighten its belt and cut unnecessary spending.
The senator also expressed frustration with the bloated personnel costs associated with the Pentagon.
“They have what? 30, 40,000 in the Pentagon and 100,000 people across the street in Arlington that are making tons of money,” Tuberville said, highlighting the extensive workforce and high salaries as a drain on resources.
Shifting Focus to the ‘Warfighter’
For Tuberville, the priority is clear: focus on the “warfighter.”
He argued that the Pentagon’s vast resources should be better allocated to help build equipment and support the troops on the ground, rather than on administrative bloat.
His message resonated with his push for a leaner, more effective defense system that prioritizes the needs of military personnel.
The senator also expressed strong support for President Trump’s new Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, praising his efforts to address waste within the department.
“We can get the cuts, but we need to continue to do what Pete has done: cut out all the bloat and all the DEI,” Tuberville said, referring to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that some see as a distraction from military readiness.
Using Elon Musk’s DOGE to Tackle Waste
Secretary Hegseth has been vocal about using innovative approaches to root out inefficiency within the Department of Defense.
One of the methods he is exploring involves leveraging Elon Musk’s DOGE technology, which is designed to help identify and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse within the military’s systems.
Hegseth explained that DOGE would be used to target high-level administrative waste, allowing the department to reinvest the savings into more critical areas of defense.
Hegseth has also announced plans to redirect approximately $50 billion from non-lethal programs, reallocating the funds to strengthen Trump’s “America First” defense priorities.
In the coming months, Tuberville and Hegseth’s proposed reforms could lead to significant changes in how the Pentagon operates, with the goal of improving efficiency and ensuring that the military is better equipped to protect the U.S. and its allies.