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Controversial defense program tied to DEI-laden contractor could be in crosshairs of DOGE: ‘Poster child’
FIRST ON FOX: One of the top defense contractors in the United States, which has a history of pushing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), is facing heat over a massive government contract that critics say should be a prime target for Elon Musk’s DOGE efforts.
The Air Force’s Sentinel program, a massive intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) project serving as the successor to the Minuteman III program ensuring the future viability of the land-based leg of America’s nuclear triad, has been mired in controversy and slowdowns as Northrop Grumman was awarded the development contract and the endeavor has gone from a $96 billion program to at least $141 billion in recent years.
The Pentagon ordered Northrop Grumman to pause development earlier this year due to «evolving launch facility requirements», Defense One reported. Air & Space Forces Magazine reported last year that the intercontinental ballistic missile program survived a Pentagon review, but it was found that the cost overrun jumped from 37% to 81%.
Northrop Grumman, which had not previously designed an ICBM, was awarded a $13 billion contract in September 2020 for full-scale development of the program to replace the Minuteman III, and the Pentagon has estimated that the total cost of developing its new ICBM program could cost up to $264 billion over the next few decades, Bloomberg reported.
BILL MAHER CALLS OUT ELON MUSK, DOGE FOR NOT TAKING ‘CHAINSAW’ TO DEFENSE SPENDING
Northrop Grumman has attempted to distance itself from DEI after promoting it for years. (Getty)
The awarding of the contract was controversial in its own right, after Boeing dropped out of the bidding, claiming that the process was rigged against it, Responsible Statecraft reported.
«The massive expansion of costs for Northrop Grumman’s Minuteman III program is the case example for why poorly-scoped, blank check programs are a bad idea,» a senior Republican Congressional official who works on defense policy told Fox News Digital.
«This is bad for national security, bad for taxpayers, and Republicans will fix this mess that Biden’s team created,» the official added.
Questions have also been raised by some in recent years about whether the Sentinel program is even necessary, including at a Congressional Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group press conference last year, when former Democratic Congressman John Tierney said that Sentinel «does not add to our security» and could «actually make us less safe.»
DOGE INITIAL FINDINGS ON DEFENSE DEPARTMENT DEI SPENDING COULD SAVE $80M, AGENCY SAYS
The U.S. flag flies near the U.S. Air Force’s B-2 Spirit Stealth bomber «Spirit of Georgia» at the Northrop Grumman Corp. facility at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. (Getty)
«When will the blank checks to cover spiraling costs end?» Tierney said. «The Sentinel ICBM program is just the latest in a long list of Pentagon programs that are over budget, behind schedule and of questionable utility.»
Tierney added that he believes the «only value» of recent ICBM development is «to the defense contractors who line their fat pockets with large cost overruns at the expense of our taxpayers.»
«It has got to stop,» he said.
An Air Force spokesperson told Fox News Digital that it is taking «deliberate» steps to ensure that the Sentinel program is running as cost-efficiently as possible while enhancing oversight at the same time. «We continue to advance the engineering design and maturity of the program with Northrop Grumman, working closely with the company to drive down costs and improve schedule performance,» the spokesperson added.
The Air Force also pointed to a previous comment from Gen. David Allvin, Air Force chief of staff, during a symposium in March that stressed the importance of the Sentinel program.
«We own two-thirds of the triad and three-fourths of the nuclear command and control of communications,» Allvin said. «We own the nuclear deterrence. So more Air Force means more nuclear deterrence…We have to have the most reliable, the most safe, the most effective nuclear deterrent. That means sentinel, yes…I believe we need more nuclear deterrence for our nation. It’s a solemn responsibility. It’s not an option.»
Amid the cost overruns and headaches from the ICBM program, Northrop Grumman adopted and promoted an agenda focused on DEI in recent years and was one of several defense contractors that have attempted to scrub their websites of DEI in the wake of the Trump administration’s pledge to rid the government of the ideology.
Northrop Grumman’s 2023 annual report mentions DEI as «vital to our culture and our company’s success. Our ability to leverage the power of our diverse workforce enhances employee engagement and enables us to innovate, perform and deliver on quality, which results in value for our shareholders, customers, and employees.»
The report also touted its minority hiring practices and stated that 25% of its employees are female, 37% people of color, 18% veterans and 8% people with disabilities.
Elon Musk’s Tesla showroom locations have faced repeated protests over his role in DOGE. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
«Diversity Has a Home at Northrop Grumman,» a YouTube video from ClearanceJobs says in a post that features Northrop Grumman employees discussing the diversity of the company.
«Northrop’s Sentinel Program is a DOGE poster child,» a person close to the Trump administration told Fox News Digital. «Not only did they practice DEI, the program is ineffective, delayed, and wasting billions of taxpayer money. Musk would have a field day.»
DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts have affected essentially every area of government, including the Defense Department, which recently announced that over $580 million worth of contracts have been canceled as Democrats continue to blast the efforts and make the case that DOGE cuts are detrimental to the country.
«I’ve seen it with my own eyes, billions of dollars spent on pricey consulting firms, grants and NGO‘s—the self-serving bureaucrats in Washington DC have found a million different ways to rip-off the American taxpayer,» special advisor to the United States Agency for Global Media Kari Lake told Fox News Digital.
«I’m working very closely with DOGE at the agency President Trump asked me to oversee. Our DOGE team is not political, they are practical. They know that it’s not practical for the U.S. government to continue spending the way it has been. Our country won’t survive unless we cut back right now, and the hard-working men and women across this country support that.»
Kari Lake, former U.S. Republican Senate candidate for Arizona, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference Argentina in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (Anita Pouchard Serra/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Northrop Grumman touted recent progress in the program.
«We continue to make substantial progress on the Sentinel Weapon System,» the spokesperson said. «On March 6, we completed the missile’s stage one static fire test, the latest of many test events that validate the rocket motor’s performance and digital design. We continue to mature the design and reduce risk as we prepare for production and deployment of this essential national security capability.»
Regarding DEI, the spokesperson said, «We have reviewed our policies and processes and continue to take the steps necessary to ensure compliance with the orders for the work entrusted to us. Northrop Grumman is committed to our customers’ missions, delivering technologies they need to deter threats, prevail in conflicts, and strengthen national security. Underpinned by our values, we hire, promote, and pay based on merit and performance resulting in the best team to deliver for our customers.»
Politics,U.S. Defense & Military Politics,DOGE
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GOP senators tangle with Noem during heated hearing on her handling of deportation surge
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Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem faced heat from Republican senators during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, including criticism about her leadership during the Trump administration’s deportation surge.
One GOP senator compared her past animal killings to decisions she has made as DHS secretary.
Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., both got into testy exchanges with Noem Tuesday during a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) oversight hearing with lawmakers.
Tillis likened Noem’s decisions as a farmer and dog owner to what he described as Noem’s disastrous leadership amid Trump’s border crackdown.
Kennedy got into a back-and-forth with Noem over her decision to describe Renee Good and Alex Pretti as domestic terrorists in the early days after they were killed and her subsequent reasoning for doing so.
«Those are bad decisions made in the heat of the moment. Not unlike what happened up in Minneapolis,» Tillis said, comparing Noem’s time as an animal owner to her leadership as Secretary of DHS.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is sworn in before she testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Noem came under fire in the Spring of 2024 when reporting based on an advanced copy of her memoir, «No Going Back,» described an incident of her killing her family dog Cricket and a separate incident during which she killed a goat. Noem explained that the dog had proven itself «untrainable» after several violent attacks and described the decision to eventually shoot the dog.
«I hated that dog,» Noem recalled, according to The Guardian and other media reports that covered the pre-released copy of Noem’s book at the time. «[Cricket was] dangerous to anyone she came in contact with.
«It was not a pleasant job,» Noem added, «but it had to be done. And after it was over, I realized another unpleasant job needed to be done.» Noem then went on to describe slaughtering the goat that she described as «nasty and mean,» adding it smelled «disgusting, musky, rancid» and complained that it «loved to chase» her children.
The reporting on Noem’s memoir prompted a group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill to start a Dog Lovers Caucus, and Noem’s memoir excerpt led to criticism against her from animal rights groups and other critics.
«You decided to kill that dog because you would not invest in the appropriate time and training, and then you have the audacity to go into a book and say it’s a leadership lesson about tough choices. It’s in your book. We could play it if we had time,» Thillis said during his heated comments about Noem’s leadership, which also included criticism about her approach to the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA).
«And you killed a goat because you said it was behaving badly. You are a farmer. You don’t castrate a goat. They behave badly. You should have probably done that before, but my point is, those are bad decisions made in the heat of the moment. Not unlike what happened up in Minneapolis.»
Kristi Noem participates in the South Dakota Buffalo Roundup in September 2023 (Fox News Digital )
In addition to getting hounded by Tillis, Noem also got into a testy exchange with GOP Sen. Kennedy, who signaled concern over who she was taking direction from during her tenure running DHS.
‘YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!’: PROTESTER DRAGGED FROM KRISTI NOEM’S SENATE HEARING
«At the time you said [what Renee Good and Alex Pretti engaged in] were acts of domestic terrorism,» Kennedy told Noem, who said that was the initial assessment of what the pair’s actions «appeared» to be. Noem attempted to interject that the assessment came at a time when there was a lot of information circulating about the Trump administration’s deportation efforts in Minneapolis, but Kennedy stood firm and continued with his line of questioning.
«As I’ve said previously in this hearing is that …,» Noem began before Kennedy cut her off.
«Did you say that? I think it’s been widely reported. Did you say that?» he asked.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., pauses while speaking to members of the media on Capitol Hill. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Noem continued to try and explain the reasoning for the domestic terrorism label,until Kennedy interjected.
«I think it’s safe to say you got some pushback on that,» Kennedy said, adding he did not want to make a judgment on the fairness of it but wanted to point it out.
«Yes,» Noem agreed, before Kennedy got to the root of his question.
«What got my attention was that you blamed those statements on Mr. Stephen Miller at the White House, did you not?» he asked.
Noem fervently denied the accusation, arguing the claim was from an anonymous source that could not be trusted.
«Where you’re seeing that is in a news article of anonymous sources, and anonymous sources say a lot of things, but I’ve never said that at all,» Noem claimed.
Kennedy shot back that she «said on the record» that «everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen.» Kennedy then provided an exact date on which Noem made the remark.
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«Do you think it was fair to blame Mr. Miller for your words?» Kennedy asked.
Noem dismissed the question again and continued to contest the legitimacy of the claim she made such statements, adding she «did not» blame Miller for her decision to call Good and Pretti domestic terrorists.
«You’re reading from a newspaper article with anonymous sources,» she said.
«Are you denying that you said that?» Kennedy asked.
«Sir, I am not going to speak to that situation that is relayed on anonymous sources,» Noem said again.
White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller has offered to appear on CNN to discuss any topic. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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The report in question was a January article from Axios, which wrote that the «episode illustrates the confusion that gripped the administration after the Saturday shooting death of Minnesota protester Alex Pretti. And it shows the influence of Miller, Trump’s close and longest-serving political adviser whose dominion in the White House far exceeds his title.»
«They’re quoting you on the record saying it’s Stephen’s fault,» Kennedy replied before the committee chairman gaveled that the senator’s time was up.
«Thank you,» Kennedy said before another senator began to speak.
Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment on the testy exchanges Noem had during the hearing Tuesday but did not receive a response in time for publication.
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kristi noem,hearings,homeland security,immigration,deportation,republicans
Hay que vivir el presente. ¿Quién no oyó esta máxima con tufillo al viejo new age que se vende bajo la etiqueta de mindfullness?, ¿quién no vio, en algún reel, la importancia de habitar el hoy, de no pensar en el mañana, de dejar ir el pasado? Somos un instante y lo demás no importa nada.
Disfrazada detrás de algunos preceptos budista, este tipo de afirmación, de pensamiento, es desde hace un tiempo ya una commodity hecha bestseller, un subproducto que busca, a través de la soledad y la alienación, centrarse en el instante como experiencia vital.
Todo lo contrario es la obra de Sonia Ruíz (Bella Vista, Tucumán, 1984), quien en sus pinturas, que se presentan en Retratos, en galería Piedras, parece querer capturar, como en el filme dirigido por los Daniels, Todo en todas partes al mismo tiempo: somos presente, sí, pero también lo que fuimos, lo que seremos y, por qué no, una proyección, algo ilusorio, donde todo sucede en simultáneo.
Sus retratos ensayan una multiplicidad de perspectivas, a veces superpuestas en una sola imagen. Ruíz experimenta así con la combinación de diversas fotografías de una misma situación, componiendo escenas complejas.
“Cada parte de la foto me parece como que es rescatable. Entonces voy como juntándolas, haciendo una especie de collage”, dijo a Infobae Cultura, sobre el proceso que no es digital, sino manual, y alimenta el carácter fragmentario y múltiple de los cuadros.
Esta superposición de instantes, de momentos y miradas sobre el ser en la obra de Ruiz, generan, aún sin buscarlo, una mirada filosófica eternalista sobre la vida: el pasado, el presente y el futuro son igualmente reales y existen en simultáneo.
Pero, la artista no produce ese acercamiento desde una postura técnica-teórica, despojada de su propia identidad, sino a partir de las personas que la molderaron, su familia, generando así un vínculo profundo con los retratados que son, en varios sentidos, la propia Sonia.
En la obra teatral Los bienes visibles, con dramaturgia y dirección de Juan Pablo Gómez, de reciente paso por el CC Borges, uno de los personajes proclama que “dentro de una familia hay muchas familias”, enfatizando que la experiencia de cada individuo marca su mirada y que, de esa manera, cada uno tendría una opinión diferente sobre las relaciones. En las pinturas de Sonia Ruíz, sin dudas, pueden verse destellos de una narración personal: hay gestos protectores, de agobio, de curiosidad, de un amor a distancia y contemplativo.
Y es que lo íntimo nunca no deja de revelarse en la creación artística. En este caso, la pintora presenta a través de esa familia que quedó en su Bella Vista natal, de la que se marchó tras la pandemia, como lo cotidiano puede ser monstruoso y tierno, de apariencia sosegada e hiperquinético a la vez, como un átomo que vibra cada vez más impaciente a medida que el observador se acerca.
La serie, explica, comenzó en 2023 y estuvo inspirada por escenas de su infancia, pero evolucionó integrando nuevas perspectivas surgidas tras su mudanza a Buenos Aires y su paso por la Di Tella.
El traslado físico se tradujo, entonces, en un desplazamiento emocional: la memoria de su casa y las reuniones familiares se convirtieron en material pictórico donde la representación del padre, la hermana y una sobrina adquieren una mayor ambigüedad y profundidad psicológica.
Así, al inicio de la muestra, pueden observarse una serie de obras en mediano formato, las únicas en acrílico, en que se escenifican pequeños instantes más cercanos al costumbrismo, “reproducciones a partir de fotos”, para luego sí, comenzar un recorrido con piezas, muchas en gran formato en óleo, realizadas entre el año pasado y éste.
¿Cómo pasó Ruiz del costumbrismo de la siestas a estas piezas por momentos inquietantes, plenas de sentidos, en que lo temporal se rompe, en las que las imágenes se desdoblan en composiciones oscilantes?
Durante su beca en el Di Tella, cuenta, “tenía como otra carpeta, un lado B, digamos, como de dibujillos que hacía con lápiz y lapicera en hojas sueltas. Y eso era como algo menor”.
En ese momento, el desafío fue abandonar la reproducción literal para abrir un espacio de exploración dentro de su obra: eso “menor” fue ingresando primero en una serie de autorretratos -que pueden verse en la trastienda de la galería- y luego comenzaron a cohabitar dentro de su realismo, generando entonces la unión de dos mundos que ya convivían en su interior.
“Al principio yo pensaba con estas obras costumbristas que ya tenía como todo resuelto, como que era bastante simple, como encontrar imágenes y reproducirlas solamente por el hecho de ser imágenes que me interesaban. Pero después, cuando se me propuso un ”qué pasa cuando no copiás», qué más hay además de la copia directa, empecé a revolver en mi imaginación”, dijo.
La memoria, la distancia y el afecto tiñen la representación. Desde su traslado a Buenos Aires en 2021, pintar se volvió un medio para recomponer la cercanía: “Cada vez que lo pinto es como recordar los detalles. Sus caras, sus formas. Sí, como también tenerlos cerca. También siento a veces que también soy yo”.
Las fotografías espontáneas, convertidas en óleo, resultan en imágenes donde el gesto y la mirada insinúan vínculos complejos. En varios retratos, los ojos se cargan de una expresividad potente y parecen querer captarlo todo, con cierta familiaridad al anime, un signo que atraviesa a una generación de artistas como Flavia Da Rin o Fátima Pecci Carou, por ejemplo, y a Florencia Rodriguez Giles, a quien cita entre sus referencias contemporáneas.
“Claramente están influenciados por el manga y anime. Pero sí, hay de todo un poco, porque uno siempre está influenciado por muchas imágenes todo el tiempo. Al principio, cuando los empecé a hacer, era cuando todavía estaba en Tucumán, en pandemia y veía todo tipo de imágenes en Internet. Veía también a los dibujantes y pintores de Buenos Aires, en especial a Rodríguez Giles, quien también hace como monstruos extraños”, comentó.
En su figuración, Ruíz no escapa a las distorsiones, a dejar que las desproporciones se integren: aceptar lo anómalo como parte de la construcción del otro. No hay, en ese sentido, una búsqueda documental, sino reflejar una percepción imperfecta, desidealizada.
En la muestra, además, la artista presenta otra línea de trabajo, centrada en la experimentación de estas figuras monstruosas y otras donde las figuras humanas se presentan como síntesis formales, en tres piezas de estilo friso.
En su obra Sonia Ruíz no vive en el presente. Su familia, la familia, es una construcción variable, metamórfica; en su mirada el tiempo no se mide por relojes, sino por emociones y recuerdos, y construye a partir de la búsqueda deliberada y la aparición del accidente, un acercamiento a la experiencia personal que si bien escapa del realismo, es sumamente real, donde la vulnerabilidad, lo monstruoso y lo afectivo la constituyen. Y eso sucede Todo en todas partes al mismo tiempo.
*“Retratos” de Sonia Ruiz, en galería Piedras, Perú 1065, San Telmo, CABA. Hasta el 4 de abril, de miércoles a sábados, 14 a 19h. Entrada gratuita.
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