DOGE Terminates Navy's $170 Million Cloud Backup Contract, Leaving Critical Pay And Promotion Data Vulnerable

A crucial Navy server that stores vital pay and promotion data remains exposed without a disaster recovery plan after a contract to transfer the information to the cloud was canceled by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

What Happened: Earlier this month, DOGE terminated a $170 million contract with Pantheon, a firm tasked with transferring the Navy’s personnel data to a secure cloud platform. The transfer would have protected one of the last remaining Navy data centers, located in Tennessee, from threats like natural disasters. “Everything in terms of what sailors access, in terms of [the Navy’s online HR portal] would be impacted because they run on those mainframes,” a senior personnel official told Military.com. “Reconstituting it would probably take anywhere between nine and 16 months, during which time we could not promote sailors effectively," he added.

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Why It Matters: The aging system enables crucial HR tasks. Two months ago, a flooding incident almost caused major damage. Navy officials regarded Pantheon's initiative as a rare success amid the larger failure of the $1 billion Navy Pay and Personnel System (NP2), which is years behind schedule and still depends on 55 outdated systems.

While DOGE claims to be removing inefficiencies to save funds, this cut was misjudged, according to insiders. “You just shot the wrong target,” said a Navy official. Another source told Military.com that a DOGE representative had not reviewed the contract before canceling it.

This cancellation comes just as President Donald Trump, addressing service members stationed at Al Udeid Air Base, promised "substantial pay raises" for all military personnel. The GOP reconciliation bill, which passed the House this week, entails a $150 billion package for the Pentagon.

These developments come on the heels of a SIRI study revealing that in 2024, U.S. military expenditure touched $997 billion, making up 66% of NATO’s total and 37% of global defense spending, which reached $2.7 trillion.

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