What’s Next on Trump’s Chopping Block? Look at Pete Hegseth’s Venmo
Hegseth has more ties to Big Tech in the form of former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, who leads the anti-antitrust Competitiveness Coalition, as well as Google’s former director of law enforcement and information security Richard Salgado, and Evan Bahr, who served as an adviser to Peter Thiel’s hedge fund, according to TAP’s report. Hegseth’s ties to these sectors indicate that he will likely be open to outsourcing more massive government contracts to Silicon Valley.
Hegseth’s Venmo also revealed ties to several executives of the UnitedHealth Group, including a vice president, a product director, and a public affairs consultant. UnitedHealth is the largest administrator of Medicare Advantage, which is the largest administrator of the private Medicare option.
Hegseth has previously advocated for the privatization of Veterans Affairs, an agency he does not oversee but that manages the health care of the country’s veterans. He lobbied to restrict access to VA health care to only veterans with service-connected disabilities. In his capacity as head of DOD, Hegseth could push to privatize TRICARE, a health care program servicing uniformed military members, and continue to advocate to strip veterans of their government-offered health care option.
