The Pentagon is reportedly reeling from the uncertainty sparked by President Donald Trump’s head-spinning series of new executive orders – so much so that officials unsure of how to fulfill the directives paused new contracts, only to later reinstate them, according to a report in Politico.
Pentagon officials were forced to clarify on Tuesday that it would not halt Army deals for new weapons after top brass misunderstood Trump’s order on diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives, the report stated. But the move already created mass confusion within the defense industry and sparked broad concerns over Trump’s extensive set of actions.
“The directives sent shock waves through the Army bureaucracy,” Politico reported. “It prompted officials to ‘put a hold on all of their contracts,’ according to a congressional aide, granted anonymity to speak about internal discussions.”
A defense industry executive told Politico that a pause on Army contracts could carry damning effects for the industry.
“At a time when China is publicly announcing the acquisition of a million low-cost drones, for us to be essentially kneecapping ourselves at that moment, goodness gracious,” the defense industry executive told the publication. The executive added: “Many of the companies in new and innovative spaces, on the bleeding edge, it’s a huge gut punch to all of those.”
An email sent out by the Army, which operates off a budget of nearly $186 billion annually, informed recipients: “We are working with leadership to get additional direction as to the timeframe and may come back to you for impacts to your mission,” following Trump’s order last week on DEI programs.
“What kind of signal does this send to the defense industrial base, which is already plagued with a number of challenges?” former Army official Becca Wasser, now a current senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said to Politico. “A lot of that stems from a very unclear demand signal from the U.S. government.”
Unease surrounding the scope of Trump’s order, including around “big personnel changes” is adding to the chaotic situation, one defense official told Politico.
The report added that the Air Force “also walked back decisions this week, including removing a training that mentioned the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of Black pilots who fought in World War II. Some Pentagon officials worried actions explicitly mentioning race could run afoul of the White House’s stance denouncing ‘woke’ diversity initiatives.”
“It was not communicated to us directly; it was leaked to us,” a defense industry executive, granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, said. “We are interpolating based on memos that are government-to-government and attempting to turn that into useful information.”
