The Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing fresh scrutiny after a government watchdog analysis found that the Defense Department spent millions of dollars on high-end food purchases in September 2025.
The figures were published by nonprofit watchdog organization Open the Books, and then highlighted in follow-up reports on Tuesday. According to the nonprofit, the food spending came during a record-setting September for Pentagon contracting and grant activity. The watchdog said the Defense Department spent $93.4 billion in grants and contracts during the final month of fiscal year 2025, the highest monthly total it has tracked since at least 2008.
In the last five working days of the month alone, the department reportedly spent $50.1 billion, a surge the group tied to the federal government's longstanding "use-it-or-lose-it" budgeting dynamic, which can encourage agencies to exhaust available funds before the fiscal year closes.
The food tab stood out even inside that enormous spending spree. Open the Books said September purchases also included $2 million in Alaskan king crab, $1 million in salmon, $124,000 for ice cream machines, and $26,000 for sushi preparation tables. The group argued that the purchases fit a wider pattern during Hegseth's tenure rather than a one-month fluke, noting that the Pentagon spent more than $7.4 million on lobster tail in four separate months in 2025.
A related RealClearInvestigations report, based on the same federal spending records reviewed by Open the Books, said the Defense Department spent $66.7 million on lobster and $170.5 million on ribeye steak in the first months of Trump's second term. The reporting does not show that Hegseth personally approved the food orders, but it does place the spending squarely inside the department he leads. That distinction matters because the claims now collide with the public image Hegseth has tried to build since taking office.
In February 2025, Reuters reported that Hegseth directed the military to identify roughly $50 billion in cuts from the upcoming Pentagon budget to redirect funds toward President Donald Trump's defense priorities. Around the same time, official Defense Department messaging said Hegseth wanted to cut "fiscal fraud, waste, and abuse" and refocus money toward military readiness.
That contrast became even sharper because the September purchases coincided with some of Hegseth's own rhetoric on discipline and appearance. In a September 2025 speech to senior military leaders at Quantico, Hegseth said it was "completely unacceptable" to see "fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon." Open the Books pointed to that speech while describing a month in which Pentagon personnel, in its telling, were "dining in luxury."
