On the surface, a widely reported memo authored by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth appears to call for significant cuts to the massive U.S. military budget over each of the next five years — a proposal that quickly received positive feedback from some progressives.

But the details of Hegseth’s proposal, and a public statement from the defense secretary’s deputy, raise serious doubts about whether the floated spending “cuts” would be cuts at all.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Hegseth, in an internal memo, “ordered senior leaders at the Pentagon and throughout the U.S. military to develop plans for cutting 8% from the defense budget in each of the next five years.” Hegseth instructed officials to hand in their proposals by this coming Monday.

In response to the Post’s reporting, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), long a vocal proponent of cutting the military budget as it approaches $1 trillion a year with bipartisan approval, wrote on social media that “when the Pentagon cannot complete an independent audit, we should cut military spending by 8% a year over the next five years.”

“These savings should go to increasing Social Security benefits and strengthening VA healthcare,” Sanders added.

That is not what the administration appears to have in........

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