According to some documents and officials collected by CNN, the Pentagon is considering implementing significant cuts at the highest level of the US military as the Trump administration seeks to narrow the size of the federal government.
Plans under consideration include merging combat commands, possibly eliminating an agency to oversee development, training and education for joint forces, as well as stopping the expansion of US forces in Japan.
Some notable measures include merging the European Command (EUCOM) and the African Command (AFRICOM) into a single command, headquartered in Stuttgart (Germany), and merging the Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and the Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) into a new command called AMERICOM.
The consolidation of commands is considered an important step.
The US government acknowledged that the move could pose risks, increase control and operations for combat commanders, and entail political risks when closing down existing commands. However, the document predicts that the US could save 330 million USD in the next 5 years if this option is implemented.
There will be a report prepared by US defense officials, expected to be submitted to higher-level leaders this month in the context of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the leadership of Elon Musk pushing the Pentagon and other federal agencies to implement strong cuts to save the budget.
Last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Department of Defense would rely on DOGE to help finding the largest federal government budget fraud, waste and violations when the US militarys annual budget exceeded $800 billion.
In recent weeks, the Pentagon has focused on cutting a large number of the department's civilian workforce, with the ultimate goal of cutting staff by 5-8%, according to some US officials.
One option to save the budget is to stop plans to expand the US military in Japan. The document states that this could help the US save about $1.1 billion in personnel costs and upgrade the command system, but will continue to bring political risks and reduce control in the Pacific region.
The document also proposes to cut the Joint Staff and dissolve the Joint Military Information War Center (JIOWC). These measures are expected to help the US avoid wasting $1 billion, which could also lead to losing well-trained personnel and key experts, whether through layoffs or resettlement - the document wrote.
