When the "war fighters" go into business

Erudite Partner explores the pattern of bloated militaries setting themselves up as economic powerhouses to escape democratic control in a new article published at The Intercept titled Pentagon, Inc. Trump's so-called "Secretary of War" has launched off on such an attempt. Why should our warriors put up with pesky civilian Congressional oversight when they can fund their power from enterprises they control and run?

By Touch Of Light - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

She explains:

... the Trump administration envisions permanent ownership stakes in companies it deems essential to military preparedness and national security. In the case of the Pentagon, two related offices are responsible for overseeing DoD’s equity investments.

... The Office of Strategic Capital was established in 2022 during Joe Biden’s administration and funded under the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024. The OSC’s initial purpose was to facilitate Pentagon loans to industries it deems crucial to national security. Other parts of DoD use grants or purchases to get money to defense industries. Only OSC can lend those corporations money. Still, neither the NDAA for 2024 nor subsequent NDAAs permits the OSC to buy shares in companies.

... The other entity tasked with overseeing Defense equity investments is the Economic Defense Unit. Established this year through an internal DoD memo, the EDU offers a hint that the Pentagon isn’t ready to give up on capital. Like the Office of Strategic Capital, the EDU is overseen by Defense Department Undersecretary Stephen Feinberg, a billionaire, major Trump donor, and co-founder of the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. ... Quoting a knowledgeable inside source, The American Prospect says that the EDU “operates as a ‘venture capital firm-type entity that looks at deals, what the government’s going to do and evaluates them,’” determining what the government’s ownership stake should be. 

In other words, the Economic Defense Unit looks like the beginning of a Defense Department investment bank. ...

We can see what happens to democratic (small "d") control when the generals go into business; that's the state in Egypt and Iran.

Though Trump's pet military billionaire, Mr.Feinberg, may know something about getting something done with money, it seems pretty certain that Hegseth knows nothing useful about running a bank -- except what the famous robber Willie Sutton knew: "that's where the money is."

It seems likely the Democratic Congress will drive out Pete Hegseth in the new year, but the Trump project of combining theft of resources with escape from civilian oversight is likely to remain as long as this administration lasts. 

... Could the Pentagon really emerge as an economic power in its own right, one that operates in tandem with, but parallel to, the federal government? Not tomorrow, certainly, but now is the time to step on the brakes to prevent that scenario. ...

Yet another abomination to seize and flush away when we finish dethroning our autocrat ...