The Governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to point out that Pete Hegseth had gone on a five-day spending spree on lobster, a Japanese flute, fruit baskets and luxury furniture for the Pentagon. Pritzker shared a tweet on X by HQNewsNow, reading, “New Pentagon budget reports show Pete Hegseth spent $93 billion in one month, making it the highest monthly expense since 2008. This budget report included spending $2 million on Alaskan King Crab.”
Pritzker captioned the post, writing, “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. This is the 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.
This is the party of waste, fraud, and abuse. https://t.co/7TCp2SbTOg
— JB Pritzker (@JBPritzker) March 12, 2026
Reportedly, spending at the Department of Defense often surges during the month of September, to avoid losing unused funds before the fiscal year closes. However, in this case, some months prior to the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, Hegseth’s Department of Defense enjoyed a spending spree which featured millions of dollars on lobster, steak, salmon, furniture, and more.
According to the government spending watchdog Open The Books, in September 2025, the Pentagon spent $93.4 billion on grants and contracts. It was in the last five working days of September, that the Department of Defense spent $50.1 billion in grants and contracts, which Open The Books noted that only nine other countries in the world spend that much money on their military in one year.
As reported by AOL, Open The Books did note that the Pentagon was rushing to spend the money before the end of the government’s fiscal year on September 30. It noted that if the Pentagon hadn’t spent that money, it would have had to forfeit the unused funds, while seeing its funding reduced in the following year, due toi the “use-it-or-lose-it” funding rules.
However, the US military normally saves furniture buying for the end of the fiscal year, and Open The Books noted that the Pentagon averages $38.8 million on furniture in the months outside of September.
According to Open The Books, since 2008, the Pentagon has, on average, spent $257.6 million on furniture in September. In September 2025, the DoD spent $225.6 million on furniture, which included $12,540 on fruit basket stands, as well as chairs from Herman Miller worth $60,719, one chair of which cost $1,800.
No food or healthcare for you but lobster & crab legs for Hegseth https://t.co/wuzqhs8BeP
— Glenn ☮️ (@GLENNVENT) March 10, 2026
However, Hegseth’s spending spree in September 2025 went far beyond furniture and into the realm of luxury dining. The US military reportedly spent $1 million on salmon, $15.1$2 million on Alaskan king crab, $15.1 million on ribeye steak, $26,000 on sushi preparation tables, $124,000 on ice cream machines, and $139,224 on 272 orders of donuts, according to Open The Books.
Over the months of 2025, the Pentagon spent more than $7.4 million on lobster tail in March, May, June and October. According to Open The Books, this has only happened once before in military history, in October 2024. September 2025 saw the military spending $6.9 million on lobster tail.
Open The Books also noted that the Pentagon spent $98,329 on a Steinway & Sons grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home. In keeping with the musical instruments theme, it also spent $21,750 on a custom-made flute from a luxury Japanese brand, and $26,000 on a violin. Moreover, the Pentagon spent $111,497 on new footrests in the same category.
The government spending watchdog also noted that many of the items purchased were made outside the US, as in September 2025, the Pentagon spent a record $6.6 billion on purchases from foreign governments and foreign-owned businesses. According to Open The Books, this broke a record set in September 2023.
