'Waste, fraud, and abuse': JB Pritzker slams Trump after report flags $93 billion Pentagon spending spree

The Pentagon's alleged $93 billion monthly spending spree has not gone down well with U.S. lawmakers. With a government watchdog accusing the Department of War of spending $6.9 million on lobster tail, and $2 million on Alaskan king crab, among other things, Democrats have amped up their criticism of the Trump administration's budget choices, contrasting the expenditures with cuts to social support programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

In a recent social media post, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker accused the President of leading a "party of waste, fraud, and abuse." "Trump kicked millions off SNAP so families can't eat. Pete Hegseth spent $6.9 million on lobster tail — a fraction of the $93 billion he burned in a single month," Pritzker wrote. According to the Open the Books report, in September 2025, the Department spent $93.4 billion on grants and contracts, the largest amount since at least 2008. The report called it "use-it-or-lose-it spending", a common practice but rarely seen at this scale.  

The ongoing criticism questions President Donald Trump's historic $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal for fiscal year 2027. Republican Senator Rand Paul has also cast his doubts on the President's military spending proposal. In an interview with Fox Business, Paul indicated that he would not support a doubling of defence expenditure and criticized Operation Epic Fury. "The President is also talking about another $500 billion that he wants to spend for the military," Paul said, adding that one can't be fiscally conservative if they support unlimited warfare. 

In January this year, President Trump announced a 50% increase in the American defence budget. In a post on Truth Social, the President wrote that "in these very troubled and dangerous times, our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, but rather $1.5 Trillion Dollars." Trump claimed that the amount would "allow us to build the "Dream Military" that we have long been entitled to" and said would be funded by his administration's tariff policy. However, in February, a Supreme Court ruling put pressure on the Trump administration to return billions it collected in taxes after the President's use of IEEPA powers was deemed illegal.

President Trump had called the Supreme Court ruling "a disgrace" when he was notified about the development during his morning meeting with several governors. "Today I will sign an order to impose a 10% global tariff under Section 122, over and above our normal tariffs already being charged, and we're also initiating several Section 301 and other investigations to protect our country from unfair trading practices of other countries and companies," Trump later told reporters. A day later, he announced that the 10% tariffs would increase to 15% under Section 122 of the Trade Act.