Pentagon angst is as old as the military-industrial complex. Past secretaries of defence, including Bob Gates and the late Ash Carter, were philosopher kings next to their new and manifestly unqualified successor, Pete Hegseth. And yet the defence bureaucracy has always seemed to come out on top.

President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order directing federal agencies to work with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to “significantly” reduce the size of the federal workforce,

President Trump and Elon Musk have spent three weeks slashing federal jobs — often in defiance of legal limits — and there are more to come. These are the reported cuts to date.