(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Photo)
minister of defense Peter HeggsThe U.S. Department of Defense reportedly spent $22 million on lobster and rib-eye steaks as part of its year-end bash in September 2025.
Hegseth’s Defense Department spent $93.4 billion on grants and contracts in September 2025 alone, nearly 50% of which was spent in the last five working days of the month, according to an analysis by Open the Books, a nonprofit watchdog.
Open the Books, run by the US-based transparency charity founded in 2011, collects and publishes data on government spending down to the lobster tail.
The Pentagon spent $2 million on Alaskan king crab, $6.9 million on lobster tails, $15.1 million on rib-eye steaks and $1 million on salmon in September, according to an analysis by Open the Books. Desserts include 272 donuts, priced at $139,224, and an ice cream machine, priced at $124,000.
While the Pentagon technically doesn’t have to spend all the money allocated by Congress, a “use it or lose it” policy often forces it to do so. Any remaining funds can be removed from next year’s budget. As a result, extravagant revelry at the end of the financial year is not uncommon.
For example, the organization noted in its report that “furniture is nearly at the top of the military’s wish list at the end of every fiscal year. Since 2008, the Department of Defense has spent an average of $257.6 million on furniture in September each year, a 564% increase above normal levels. In months other than September, the military has spent an average of just $38.8 million on furniture.”
The CEO of Govly, an artificial intelligence company that assists government contractors, likened September 30 to the federal government’s “Amazon Prime Day” in an interview with Open the Books.
Big spending is also not unusual for Hegseth’s Ministry of Defense. The department also spent more than $7.4 million on lobster during the four months of 2025 (March, May, June and October), the report states.
Back in February 2025, Hegseth told the Fox Business News anchor Maria Bartiromo he welcomes Elon MuskThe former Department of Government Effectiveness helped cut “wasteful spending” within the Defense Department. He said he expected to find “hundreds of billions of dollars” in wasteful spending.
“We need to know when we spend money, we need to know where it goes and why, and the Department of Defense doesn’t have that simple accounting yet,” Heggs said. “We’re going to fix that.”
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