More than $580 million in contracts and grants have been terminated by the Department of Defense.

In a video posted on X Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo that directed the cancellations.

“Today, I’m signing a memo directing the termination of over $580 million in DOD contracts and grants that do not match the priorities of this president or this department. In other words, they are not a good use of taxpayer dollars,” Hegseth said. “Ultimately, that’s who funds us, and we owe you transparency and making sure we’re using it well.”

One of the grants, worth $5.2 million, was for diversifying the Navy by engaging “underrepresented” students who are Black, indigenous or of other identities, Hegseth said. Another award, for $9 million, was for a university to “approach equitable AI and machine-learning models.”

“I need lethal machine-learning models, not equitable machine-learning models,” Hegseth said.

The DOD also canceled an “HR software effort” that has taken place over eight years and is $280 million over budget, said Hegseth, who did not explain what the effort was. But, he did say it was supposed to occur over one year and cost $36 million.

“So, that’s 780% over budget. We’re not doing that anymore,” he said.

Another terminated contract, Hegseth added, was worth $30 million and was for information technology consulting services. The running total for the DOD’s cuts is $800 million, according to the secretary.

“Total cuts, running total: $800 million in wasteful spending canceled over the first few weeks as DOD partners with DOGE here to make sure that our warfighters have what they need by cutting the waste, fraud and abuse,” Hegseth said. “They’re working hard. We’re working hard with them. We appreciate the work that they’re doing, and we have a lot more coming.”

Some Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., have expressed concern with the Department of Government Efficiency’s approach to reducing federal spending. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles met with Senate Republicans last month to alleviate those worries, according to NBC News.

“Everybody’s concerned when you have people cutting out of your state,” Tuberville reportedly said. “But we all understand, it’s — that’s just part of it, you know, we’re way over, bloated, we got to cut back.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., also expressed concern about reductions to the federal workforce, NBC News reported. He said cuts “need to be done in a respectful way.”

“We want to do everything we can, and I think this has been long overdue, to try and figure out how we can make government work more efficiently,” Thune said, according to NBC News. “But I would also argue that in anything that they do, they need to be respectful of people that are involved in these agencies and departments of government.”

Have questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at rjlewis@sbgtv.com.