Federal agency
Appears in 6 stories · Last updated Oct 29, 2026
Began clearing some onshore wind projects in October after a court order; Democrats say hundreds remain in limbo.
The Pentagon has started clearing onshore wind projects again after a federal judge ordered it to resume reviews. In October it advanced projects in Maine and South Dakota, but Democrats say hundreds more are still waiting.
Updated Oct 29
Designated Confucius Institutes a national security threat and audited university research ties
The Pentagon designated Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes a national security threat on October 23, 2026, after saying it had dismantled 80 programs that re-formed under new names at 30 US universities. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called them "propaganda cells" with "the same mission: to steal intellectual property and to infiltrate the minds of American students."
Parent agency launching the new command
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the Autonomous Warfare Command on September 30 and told the Association of the United States Army in October that the four-star command was always the end state. The command would buy and field drones, robots, and artificial intelligence across the military, with a target stand-up date of October 1, 2027.
Updated Oct 21
As of October 2026: Overseeing breach response
Nearly 3 million people tied to the US military had Social Security numbers and job details exposed in a nine-month breach of the Pentagon's main personnel database. The Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) discovered the intrusion on July 16, 2026, but did not notify victims until Sept. 18, a 64-day gap.
Updated Oct 4
As of September 2026: Conducting its own investigation into the Minab strike, elevated after initial findings
A UN fact-finding mission found 'reasonable grounds' to believe US forces committed war crimes in a February strike on a primary school in Minab, Iran. More than 150 people died, including about 120 schoolchildren. The same report found Iran committed crimes against humanity against its own protesters, including murder, torture and persecution.
Updated Sep 17
As of May 2026: Lead US agency on AUKUS implementation
The Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) pact, unveiled in September 2021, promised nuclear-powered submarines not arriving in Australia until at least 2032. Five years on, the partnership has finally produced a piece of joint hardware, and it is not a submarine.
Updated May 31
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