Pentagon Spends $93.4 Billion in One Month on Lobster, Luxury Chairs and Grand Piano
Key Takeaways
- Department of Defense spent $93.4 billion in September 2025.
- September 2025 spending was the highest single-month total since at least 2008.
- Purchases included luxury seafood such as lobster tails and Alaskan king crab.
Record month of spending
In September 2025 the United States Department of Defence (DoD) recorded an unprecedented single-month spending total of $93.4 billion, a surge identified by the Open the Books analysis and reported in multiple outlets; the spike was driven by the long-standing congressional ‘‘use-it-or-lose-it’’ rule that compels agencies to exhaust annual budgets by 30 September or risk reduced future allocations.
“The US Department of Defence burned through £73”
The Open the Books data — which IBT says was first obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation — shows that the final five working days alone accounted for £39.6 billion ($50.1 billion) in grants and contracts, a sum IBT noted was larger than the annual defence budgets of some countries.
This extraordinary year‑end rush made September 2025 the highest single-month defence spending figure on record since at least 2008, according to coverage summarising the watchdog’s findings.
Notable purchases listed
The spending spree included a mix of high‑end food, furnishings, technology and musical instruments that drew public attention and ridicule: tens of millions on lobster tail, Alaskan king crab and ribeye steak; more than £178 million ($225.6 million) on furniture including premium Herman Miller Aeron chairs and three‑tiered fruit stands; and musical instruments such as a £77,600 ($98,329) Steinway & Sons grand piano purchased for an Air Force chief of staff’s home.
Detailed line items catalogued by the watchdog and relayed by the Times of India and IBT included lobster tails at $6.9 million, Alaskan king crab at $2 million, $15.1 million on ribeye, $1.8 million on musical instruments, and smaller purchases such as ice‑cream machines, doughnut orders and children's stickers — purchases that together illustrated the eclectic composition of the month’s outlays.
Rule and historical context
Observers emphasised that the mechanism driving the spike is a routine budgetary rule rather than a novel accounting trick, and that similar year‑end surges have occurred under prior administrations — though not at this scale.
“The US Department of Defence burned through £73”
IBT’s analysis noted that furniture spending in past Septembers under Barack Obama routinely hit between £237 and £316 million ($300–$400 million), while the 2025 totals dwarfed those earlier figures; the Open the Books finding that foreign procurement also jumped to £5.2 billion ($6.6 billion) in September highlighted an additional dimension, with contracts going to governments and firms in the UK, Switzerland and Canada.
Criticism and irony
The spending provoked sharp critiques and political irony: Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s public rebuke of Pentagon culture — 'completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon' — coincided with the department’s lavish purchases, and watchdogs publicly urged leadership to halt the practice.
Open the Books CEO John Hart wrote to Hegseth earlier in 2025 and later declared in a statement that 'the Pentagon's traditional year‑end spending spree in 2025 was the worst ever on record at a staggering $93.4 billion' and called the month’s pattern 'unacceptable,' a sentiment carried in press accounts that juxtaposed the purchases with domestic policy debates over benefits and budget priorities.
Accountability and implications
Coverage also highlighted broader contradictions and public-policy implications: reporting noted that the September outlays came as Congress debated tighter rules for social assistance and as some Americans lost SNAP benefits during a prolonged shutdown, raising questions about priorities and oversight.
“The US Department of Defence burned through £73”
Commentators and watchdogs asked why a roughly £792 billion ($1 trillion) institution lacked the internal authority to prevent such end‑of‑year escalations, and why large portions of the spending went to foreign suppliers despite political rhetoric about bolstering domestic manufacturing.
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