Hegseth gutted Pentagon office that said it would oversee testing of Golden Dome missile defense system

Source: CNN

Hegseth gutted Pentagon office that said it would oversee testing of Golden Dome missile defense system

By Natasha Bertrand, CNN
4 minute read
Published 7:13 PM EDT, Fri May 30, 2025

(CNN) — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the gutting of a Pentagon office shortly after it disclosed that it would be overseeing the testing of President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense system and the programs associated with the massive, multi-billion dollar project, multiple officials familiar with the matter told CNN.

At the end of April, the little known Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation drafted and disseminated a memo to the Office of the Secretary of Defense and other DoD offices that put Golden Dome on its oversight list, in line with DoD instructions and laws requiring that a major defense acquisition program be tested before being fielded, the officials said.

Days later, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency asked the office for a meeting. Musk’s company, SpaceX, is among the companies vying for a role in developing Golden Dome.

DOGE representatives asked DOT&E officials more about what they did and their plans for this year, officials said, and seemed surprised that much of the office’s work was required by law. But there were no outward signs that the office was on the chopping block.

On Wednesday, though, DOT&E employees were abruptly summoned to a meeting at the Pentagon ...

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Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/30/politics/hegseth-pentagon-office-gutted-golden-dome