Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told the Pentagon to find $50 billion in programs to cut this year, to redirect funds to President Trump's priorities.

In the memo, Hegseth outlines cuts that are twice as severe as the sequestration budget reductions imposed in 2013 — the last major cuts to the Defense Department — and equivalent to double the amount that congressional Republicans had planned to add to the Pentagon budget.

The defense secretary has told senior leaders to prepare to trim 8 percent from the budget over each of the next five years, officials said.