Pentagon was on a deadline. It had to use or lose $93bn. So it bought lobsters, crabs and a lot more

Pentagon had over $93 billion left at the end of its budget cycle, and Pete Hegseth and his team spent most of it on crabs, lobsters, steaks, sushi, iPads, a piano and a custom flute. According to government watchdog Open the Books, the Pentagon became the agency that spent the most money in a month in September 2025. Over $50.1 billion of the leftover amount was spent in the final five working days of the month alone. US government agencies are supposed to spend their fiscal budget by September 30 every year, or else they lose it all. Pentagon needed to spend $849.8 billion in one year, but was left with $93billion in the last month. So the officials got creative and spent a bomb on surf and turf meals for everyone in the agency.

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Expensive meals, iPads, and ice cream machines

Pentagon bought Alaskan king crab worth $2 million, spent $15.1 million on ribeye steaks, $6.9million on lobster tail, $1million on salmon and $26,000 for sushi preparation tables. They also ate a whole lot of desserts - purchasing $124,000 worth of ice cream machines and splurging $139,224 on doughnuts. The agency spent $5.9 billion on technology and communications. A whopping $5.3 million worth of Apple products were purchased, which included 400 brand new iPads at $315,200. The food and expensive gadgets still make sense compared to some of the other things the Pentagon bought. For some reason, they decided to get a Steinway grand piano that was placed at the house of the chief of staff of the Air Force. It also got a custom flute worth $21,750 from Muramatsu.

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Pentagon bought children's cartoon show stickers

It gets weirder. The Pentagon spent $3,160 on Paw Patrol and Dora the Explorer stickers, popular children's shows. A big amount was also splurged on new furniture, most of which came from foreign countries. In September, $225.6 million was thrown to get furniture, including Herman Miller chairs worth $60,719 and fruit basket stands for $12,540 spent. A total of $6.6 billion of spending involved foreign companies. The spending in September was the most Pentagon had ever done in the last month, registering an increase of 18 per cent from 2024, when it spent $79.1 billion.

The spending has angered many leaders, who also alleged fraud. Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer took a shot at Hegseth for the wasteful expenses. He wrote on social media, "Instead of lowering American’s healthcare costs, Hegseth used millions of taxpayer dollars on fruit baskets, Herman Miller recliners, ice cream machines, Alaskan King Crabs, and a Steinway & Sons grand piano."