At a time when there is growing concern about the cost of the war against Iran, and with the Trump administration poised to request a massive increase in the Defense Department’s annual budget to $1.5 trillion, a new report raises serious questions about spending practices within the world’s largest military.
The federal government’s fiscal year ends in September, and that can add perverse incentives for government officials facing “use it or lose it” spending rules that can affect funding for agencies that spend less than their budgets allow. These incentives were particularly noticeable at the Department of Defense last fall, according to the conservative watchdog group Open the Books, which documented a $93.4 billion burst in spending at the Pentagon.
Open the Books says that military spending spikes in September every year, regardless of which party is in power, as administrators face the threat of losing unspent funds and possibly seeing their budgets shrink. This past September, though, appears to have set a record. “[T]here has never been anything quite like September 2025, when $93.4 billion was spent on grants and contracts,” the group writes. “Since at least 2008 — and presumably in history — no federal agency has ever spent so much on grants and contracts in a single month.”
Since 2008, average monthly spending excluding September at the Defense Department has been $28.9 billion; the September average is $62.4 billion. In just the last five business days of September 2025, the Pentagon spent $50.1 billion on grants and contracts — more money than the entire defense budgets of Israel and Italy.
The reported list of purchases by defense officials in September includes a remarkable array of items, some of which seem more appropriate for a country club or hotel. Some examples:
- $6.9 million for lobster tail;
- $15.1 million for ribeye steak;
- $2 million for Alaskan king crab;
- $5.3 million for Apple electronic devices;
- $4 million for Samsung electric devices;
- $139,224 for 272 orders of doughnuts;
- $12,540 for three-tiered fruit basket stands;
- $98,329 for a Steinway & Sons grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home;
- $21,750 for a custom handmade flute from the luxury Japanese brand Muramatsu;
- $225.6 million for furniture, including $60,719 worth of chairs from Herman Miller.
Analysts at Open the Books say the spending numbers suggest that use-it-or-lose-it budgeting rules need to be reformed.
“Congress should consider allowing the DoD to roll over portions of its budget to the following year instead of wasting money on seafood and pianos every September,” the group says. “Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution states that funding ‘to raise and support armies’ can be used up to two years after it is appropriated. The current one-year deadline is arbitrary and must be re-examined.”