1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

While Americans were losing their SNAP benefits and Congress was debating cuts to food assistance for families in need, Pete Hegseth's Pentagon was ordering $15.1 million in ribeye steak, $6.9 million in lobster tail, $2 million in Alaskan king crab, and a $98,329 Steinway grand piano for a general's home. I need you to explain to me — in writing — how this is acceptable. These are not allegations. They are documented in a March 9, 2026 analysis by Open the Books, a nonpartisan government watchdog that has tracked Pentagon contracts for nearly a decade. The findings are drawn entirely from publicly available federal contracts data. In September 2025 alone — the final month of the fiscal year — the Department of Defense spent $93.4 billion, the highest single-month total since at least 2008. In the last five business days of September alone, the Pentagon obligated over $50 billion — more than the entire annual defense budgets of Israel and Italy combined. Republican Senator Joni Ernst called it "binge-buying bureaucrats." Open the Books CEO John Hart called it "the worst ever on record" and stated plainly: "American taxpayers expect their dollars to support critical defense priorities, not lavish dinners." The hypocrisy here is staggering and it demands to be named. This is the same Pete Hegseth who stood before military personnel on September 30, 2025 — the very last day of this historic spending spree — and declared it was "completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon." He said this while his department was signing off on $139,224 in donuts, $124,000 in ice cream machines, $225 million in furniture including $12,000 in fruit basket stands, and $60,000 in premium Herman Miller recliners. This is the same administration that promised DOGE would eliminate government waste — and Hegseth himself pledged DOGE would be "incorporated into the DOD." It was not. This is the same administration cutting Medicaid, slashing SNAP, and eliminating services for the most vulnerable Americans in the name of fiscal responsibility. The word for this is not fiscal responsibility. The word is fraud. I understand the "use-it-or-lose-it" budget rule is not new. Every administration has faced this structural pressure. But Hegseth was warned. Open the Books wrote directly to him earlier in 2025 urging him to end the practice, telling him explicitly: "Mr. Secretary, you have the power to end this practice today." He did nothing. Under his watch the problem got worse — not better. The 2025 total was the worst on record. That is a choice, not an accident. I am asking you to do two things. First, use your committee authority to launch a formal investigation into the Pentagon's September 2025 spending, with particular scrutiny on luxury food purchases, musical instruments, and non-essential furniture under Secretary Hegseth's direct oversight. Second, introduce or co-sponsor legislation to reform the federal use-it-or-lose-it budget rule so that agencies are no longer incentivized to waste taxpayer money to protect their future funding allocations. You cannot cut food stamps for hungry Americans and sign off on $2 million in king crab in the same breath and call yourself a fiscal conservative. The people you represent are watching. Which side are you on? I expect a written response stating your specific position on Secretary Hegseth's Pentagon spending and the steps you intend to take. I will be sharing your answer — or your silence — with my community.