Alaskan king crab and a $98k piano —  Pentagon busted for $93 billion spending 'binge'

A GOP senator fired a shot across the bow of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon for going ‘through tens of billions of dollars on impulse purchases” at the end of the fiscal year with multiple purchases drawing scrutiny, reports the conservative Daily Caller.
According to government watchdog Open The Books, the Department of Defense's spending in September reached levels not seen since at least 2008 — a total of $93 billion. The extravagant purchases have taken on new importance now that the Pentagon may be on the verge of depleting its munitions stockpile as Trump's war on Iran escalates.
The waste was staggering. The Pentagon spent over $225 million on furniture alone — the highest amount since 2014. This included $12,000 on fruit basket stands and more than $60,000 on premium Herman Miller chairs.
Dining also received generous funding. The Pentagon purchased $2 million worth of Alaskan king crab in September — a feat the department has accomplished five times during Trump's tenure.
Musical instruments joined the shopping list. A $98,329 Steinway & Sons grand piano, a $26,000 violin, and a $21,750 handmade Japanese flute were among $1.8 million spent on instruments.
The Pentagon also made $6.6 billion in purchases from foreign governments and businesses — over $1 billion more than the previous record of $5.2 billion in September 2023. These expenditures included $3 billion for training classes, janitorial work, and border surveillance, plus $3.6 billion in goods including computer chips and firetrucks.
Open The Books CEO John Hart called on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to refocus the department's spending. "Under Secretary Hegseth, the Pentagon has consistently said its mission is to refocus on warfighting and lethality," Hart stated. "Last year, we highlighted the problem of wasteful use-it-or-lose-it year-end spending. We noted that this reform is fully within the secretary's control and is a historic opportunity to make good on that promise."
Republican Iowa Senator Joni Ernst issued a direct rebuke, stating: "If taxpayers are going to be asked to spend $1.5 trillion on defense — nearly as much as the rest of the world combined — Washington must be able to defend how every dollar is being spent. Open the Books' findings that binge-buying bureaucrats at the Pentagon burned through tens of billions of dollars on impulse purchases, like fruit basket stands, footrests, doughnuts by the dozen, and a custom-made flute, demonstrate how much work still needs to be done to meet that goal."

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A judge has ruled on a firm date for Donald Trump's administration to refund companies affected by tariffs shot down last month by the Supreme Court.

Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade says the president's team must issue an update on the processing of refunds by March 12. A further processing deadline is set for April 20, The Hill reported. An immediate compliance order has also been issued by Eaton, who says taxpayers will feel the burden by the end of the year should the admin not fulfil its refund obligations.

Eaton said, "These duties must now be refunded with interest, and the clock is ticking. Further interest is accumulating every day, with approximately $650 million accruing per month.

"If the entries are not liquidated before the end of the year, it is further estimated that $10 billion of interest will have accrued. American taxpayers will bear this financial burden."

Though a deadline has been set by Judge Eaton, officials believe the 45-day crunch is not long enough to process the immediate compliance as there would be more than 50 million affected entries needing a check.

Brandon Lord, a trade official at the CBP, said, "CBP estimates that the automated controls described above will save CBP over 4 million hours compared with the manual processes it would otherwise have to complete."

More than 2,000 companies filed lawsuits against the Trump administration following the continued use of an economic plan that has leaked billions of dollars out of thousands of companies.

Eaton "also questioned why the government was continuing to do so after the Supreme Court ruled the tariffs illegal. Eaton also ordered officials to recalculate certain duties that had passed that step of the customs process, removing Trump’s contested tariffs."

The Supreme Court ruled that Trump does not have authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to issue tariffs, blowing up the entire foundation for Trump having imposed them without Congress.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) vowed that there would be "consequences" for Saudi Arabia if the U.S. ally did not join in the war against Iran.

"The American Embassy is being evacuated in Riyadh because of sustained attacks by Iran against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Graham wrote in a Monday post on X. "It is my understanding the Kingdom refuses to use their capable military as a part of an effort to end the barbaric and terrorist Iranian regime who has terrorized the region and killed 7 Americans."

"Why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?" the senator asked. "Saudi Arabia seems to be issuing statements and doing things in the background that are marginally helpful, but unwilling to participate in military operations to end the reign of terror coming out of Iran."

"Hopefully this changes soon. If not, consequences will follow."

MAGA influencer Steve Bannon lashed out at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after he scoffed at a question from 60 Minutes about whether Iran was an imminent threat to the United States.

"I think much of that discussion is silly and academic," Hegseth told CBS reporter Major Garrett during the Sunday interview.

The answer didn't sit well with Bannon on his Monday broadcast.

"There's just got to be a different messaging," he explained. "It's got to be different information... And let me be specific about that. And you know, I think the world of Pete Hegseth. Nobody fought for Pete Hegseth's confirmation more than this audience and this show."

"That being said, the 60 Minutes interview last night, you just can't sit there and go shine us on about imminent threat," Bannon continued. "Oh yeah, it's not an immigrant threat. No, it doesn't work like that. The people in the messaging part, moreover, they've got to get serious about this."

The MAGA host insisted that the American people would not accept "short-term pain for long-term gain."

"But you're going to start losing people," he noted. "And last night on 60 Minutes, just to kind of shine on imminent threat, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Incorrect, sir. Incorrect, Mr. Pete Hegseth. It was imminent threat, and I'd like to know about that imminent threat."

"Because I think you showed last night, there was not an imminent threat, and now we're in it. Now we're in it," Bannon added.