# Shrinking the US Military News Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 16, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088 "2025-09-16T13:56:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/1 "2025-09-16T13:56:32Z")
Just posting news, tracking any sly efforts to reduce the headcount of the US military. Today’s is [Troops with medical shaving waivers to face separation, Hegseth says](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2025/09/15/troops-with-medical-shaving-waivers-to-face-separation-hegseth-says/) Troops with beards will either need to leave the army or shave every day, if they’re unable to find a cure for medical issues that prevent shaving. The waiver is most commonly given out to black soldiers, of whom about 60% (per the article) face issues of inflammation, cysts, etc. if they shave too regularly or too well, causing ingrown hairs on their face. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/2 "2025-09-16T15:06:57Z")
I think the reason for the rule is to shrink the number of non-white military personnel. Hesgeth is a white supremacist and the military is being reshaped to fit this administration’s vision. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/3 "2025-09-16T15:23:15Z")
So are you interested in any shrinkage, or only shrinkage that seems to be reducing minorities and not whites? Because I would generally be in favor of reducing the size of the US military, if done intelligently and without right-wing agendas attached. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/4 "2025-09-16T15:28:49Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Because I would generally be in favor of reducing the size of the US military, if done intelligently and without right-wing agendas attached. If that’s because of the cost of maintaining that many troops, then I don’t agree. The majority of the money allocated for the military is for weapons, and a lot of that money isn’t even wanted or needed. Congress could seriously cut military spending without a reduction in force. My opinion only; I don’t have numbers to quote. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/5 "2025-09-16T15:38:29Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Because I would generally be in favor of reducing the size of the US military, if done intelligently and without right-wing agendas attached. \ \That is a completely reasonable expectation for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and this regime.\ [![](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/KW1HDvEM9/1600x837/donald-trump-defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-tattoos-decoded-pentagon-slams-nomination-pp-1731538779495.jpg) ](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/KW1HDvEM9/1600x837/donald-trump-defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-tattoos-decoded-pentagon-slams-nomination-pp-1731538779495.jpg) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/6 "2025-09-16T15:46:30Z")
My remark was general, and not intended to be topical or political. Whether this thread was intended to be political or not was what I was trying to find out (especially considering the forum). ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/7 "2025-09-16T16:35:53Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > So are you interested in any shrinkage, or only shrinkage that seems to be reducing minorities and not whites? Any shrinkage. Leading up to the Big Beautiful Bill, Trump was clearly calling to “reduce spending” while also saying, “no reductions to medical spending and no reductions to Social Security”. If you know pretty much anything about the US Federal budget, that’s as much as saying, “Shrink the military”. He was submitting budgets to increase domestic policing (which he has sometimes called “military” but, in the context is clearly domestic policing) and increase R&D but, even during his first administration, Trump has consistently pushed the reduce or at least not grow the military. > [@](#): > > Because I would generally be in favor of reducing the size of the US military, if done intelligently and without right-wing agendas attached. Yes, there’s a lot of things that Trump does that are left leaning. I mean, as it is, his heads of medicine and intelligence are both former Democratic presidential candidates. The greatest support that Defund the Police got, outside of San Francisco, was with Trump’s [executive order](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/16/878229717/read-president-trumps-executive-order-on-policing) to defund police departments that hadn’t been certified by the US Attorney General as having taken training in how to respectfully and peacefully subdue perps. Whether growing or shrinking the military is the better thing to do, defunding the police is the right thing to do, or increasing food and drug regulations is the right or wrong things to do, left leaning media isn’t particularly motivated to highlight the President’s leftist policies, since that risks losing voters. And the right leaning media doesn’t highlight it because they’re not allowed to point out hypocrisy, lies, and deceit by the President. So, while I’m personally fine with you supporting or denouncing the action (as your politics encourage you), it still remains that there’s a large body of political news, regarding which a lot of people would have a strong opinion, that is barely getting no reporting. The news shouldn’t be suppressing content that most people would find to be politically notable. I’m fighting ignorance. What you do with the knowledge is up to you. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/8 "2025-09-16T16:49:15Z")
Some previous news: > **[3 senior GOP senators slam Trump's defense budget for being too stingy](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/02/mcconnell-gop-senators-defense-spending-trump-budget/83414967007/)** > > The senators say the one-time increase won't have the lasting effect of a permanent addition to the defense budget. [https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/19/pete-hegseth-orders-pentagon-spending-cuts-00205073](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/19/pete-hegseth-orders-pentagon-spending-cuts-00205073) ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/9 "2025-09-16T16:53:11Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I mean, as it is, his heads of medicine and intelligence are both former Democratic presidential candidates. That’s playing very fast and loose with the definition of Democratic presidential candidates since neither of them were Democratic Party presidential candidates. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/10 "2025-09-16T17:08:31Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Yes, there’s a lot of things that Trump does that are left leaning. I mean, as it is, his heads of medicine and intelligence are both former Democratic presidential candidates. This is a nonsensical claim. Tulsi Gabbard is anything but “left leaning”, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is a complete conspiracy-spewing nutball who is beyond any metric of the conservative/liberal scale. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > The greatest support that Defund the Police got, outside of San Francisco, was with Trump’s [executive order](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/16/878229717/read-president-trumps-executive-order-on-policing) to defund police departments that hadn’t been certified by the US Attorney General as having taken training in how to respectfully and peacefully subdue perps. The intent of that executive order wasn’t to support #DefundThePolice or #BlackLivesMatter but to foment civil unrest and escalate crime in ‘sanctuary cities’. The notion that this is some evidence of Donald Trump’s hidden liberal leanings is farcical to say the least. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/11 "2025-09-16T17:08:37Z")
I have it on authority that, to the extent that Kennedy wasn’t running as a lefty, it’s because he was too far left to be considered: [https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/28/donald-trump-robert-kennedy-liberal-00154828](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/28/donald-trump-robert-kennedy-liberal-00154828) That said, I missed that he’d run as an independent. But certainly he views himself as a Liberal, did try to run as one, was an environmental lawyer, worked with the NAACP and, per the Wikipedia, “As a ‘well-respected climate lawyer’ in the 2000s, Kennedy was ‘often linked to top environmental jobs in Democratic administrations’, including in the [2000](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_United_States_presidential_election), [2004](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_United_States_presidential_election), and [2008 presidential elections](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_United_States_presidential_election).[[132]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr.#cite_note-:5-132) He was considered as a potential chair of the [White House Council on Environmental Quality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Council_on_Environmental_Quality) for [Al Gore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore) in 2000 and considered for the role of [EPA administrator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrator_of_the_Environmental_Protection_Agency) under [John Kerry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerry) in 2004 and [Barack Obama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama) in 2008.” So while, yes, he might escape the categorization on a technicality, it’s more true in all the ways that matter than it is false. A wolf who gets into the sheep pageant, because they can’t find a rule to exclude him, is only an “on-paper” sheep, not a real one. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/12 "2025-09-16T17:11:41Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > to foment civil unrest and escalate crime in ‘sanctuary cities’. I’m not sure how you’d reach that end through the Executive Order as given? I read it as a fairly shameless attempt to grab black votes, by using the work of Senator Tim Scott, with the understanding that you could micro-target one group of the populace while otherwise hiding it from everyone else. But I suppose, if you’re thinking that they figured that fewer police = more crime then that is possible (but doesn’t make sense when you consider the timelines that would be required), but it still goes against the idea of being a “Law & Order candidate”. Either read is still something that should be out and public. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/13 "2025-09-17T21:43:52Z")
I’m usually skeptical of things like this that politicians do and people attribute to nakedly racist reasons, but this sure seems to be it. It strikes me as being a situation of forcing compliance to show them who’s boss, knowing full well that the only people with beards are either people with medical waivers (by military doctors no less) or people doing it for religious reasons (Sikhs primarily). And even then, the beards are required to be well kept and short. There’s no practical reason for this- it’s just visiting discomfort on primarily minority troops just for the sake of doing so. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/14 "2025-09-17T22:33:13Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’m usually skeptical of things like this that politicians do and people attribute to nakedly racist reasons, but this sure seems to be it. Yup, everything this administration does is nakedly evil. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/15 "2025-09-17T23:49:21Z")
More news, ODNI planning to shut down counterintel/counterterrorism centers: > **[ODNI expected to shrink counterintelligence, counterterror centers](https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/09/odni-likely-curtail-counterintelligence-center-latest-shake/408035/?oref=d1-homepage-river)** > > The steps are the latest that several current and former officials say are leaving the U.S. more vulnerable. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/16 "2025-09-18T00:10:08Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Any shrinkage. Leading up to the Big Beautiful Bill, Trump was clearly calling to “reduce spending” while also saying, “no reductions to medical spending and no reductions to Social Security”. If you know pretty much anything about the US Federal budget, that’s as much as saying, “Shrink the military”. If you know anything, that’s as much as saying “Shrink the military”. But what if you’re Donald Trump? Or not even just him, really. “Cut taxes but keep everything that government provides” has been a watchwords for dishonest and clueless demagogues for all of history. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/17 "2025-09-18T00:29:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But what if you’re Donald Trump? He seems to be aware of our military spending: > **[That Time Trump Spent Nearly $100,000 On An Ad Criticizing U.S. Foreign...](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ilanbenmeir/that-time-trump-spent-nearly-100000-on-an-ad-criticizing-us)** > > A jab at Reagan? [https://www.axios.com/2025/02/13/trump-china-russia-military-spending](https://www.axios.com/2025/02/13/trump-china-russia-military-spending) > > In general, my sense is that the only thing keeping him in the military game are 1) wanting to look cool, by having the biggest military, and 2) political necessity by virtue of having signed up with the pro-flag team. But his overall ambition is to shrink, and he’s good at knowing how to misdirect enough that he can accomplish shrinkage without anyone ever noticing through a variety of means - pushing people to quit on their own, moving them into border patrol, swapping bodies for impossible future-tech, kicking them out for saying things that aren’t on-message, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/18 "2025-09-18T00:41:20Z")
Cite that Trump is aware of anything? Sometimes his random mouth-noises might point in that direction, but the only thing he’s ever consistent on is hatred. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/19 "2025-09-18T10:18:06Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Yes, there’s a lot of things that Trump does that are left leaning. I mean, as it is, his heads of medicine and intelligence are both former Democratic presidential candidates. Dude, come on. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > So while, yes, he might escape the categorization on a technicality, it’s more true in all the ways that matter than it is false. Seriously, come ON. Citing a list of jobs he was “considered for” but did not hold, this doesn’t even pass the laugh test. Citing anything he did 20 years ago has little if any bearing on what the man is _right now_, which is serving the most reactionary president of all time, not to keep the reactionary agenda in check, but to help advance its goal of dismantling the administrative state. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2025, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088/20 "2025-09-26T21:40:50Z")
The military appears to be down by about 60k civilian roles: > **[More than 60K defense civilians have left under Hegseth—but officials are mum...](https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/09/more-60k-defense-civilians-have-left-under-hegseth-officials-are-mum-effects/408375/?oref=d1-homepage-top-story)** > > Months into a hastily ordered overhaul, officials declined to disclose metrics, discuss problems. New priorities have been issued to stop focusing on “Offense is the best Defense.” And instead, “Defense-only is Less.” > **[China, China, Chi—wait, what? Air Force mulls next steps amid homeland focus](https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2025/09/china-china-chiwait-what-air-force-mulls-next-steps-amid-homeland-focus/408392/?oref=d1-homepage-river)** > > Officials tout applicability of ongoing modernization, but experts and former officials have doubts. History would say that defense-only is a poor strategy. [Ref](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maginot_Line) [Ref](https://www.discovermagazine.com/did-the-great-wall-of-china-actually-keep-invaders-out-41956#:~:text=In%20some%20cases%252C%20the%20invaders,dynasty%20weren't%20paying%20attention.) [Ref](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople) [Ref](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Lev_Line) [Ref](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carrhae) Some older news that should also be thrown in: > **[Trump administration to cut thousands of jobs from CIA and other spy agencies...](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/03/trump-administration-to-cut-thousands-of-jobs-from-cia-and-other-spy-agencies-report)** > > CIA to lose 1,200 while NSA among other agencies reported to face downsizing amid president’s drive to shrink federal workforce > **[Hegseth orders elimination of 10% of general, admiral jobs](https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/05/hegseth-orders-services-axe-10-their-general-and-admiral-jobsand-one-fifth-4-star-posts/405074/)** > > Memo also orders the elimination of one-fifth of 4-star posts. No deadline, few guidelines given for shakeup. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shrinking-the-us-military-news-thread/1023088.md?page=2)