Hegseth takes heat from Republicans in back-to-back hearings: 5 takeaways

Comments: by Ellen Mitchell and Filip Timotija - 05/12/26 5:24 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Ellen Mitchell and Filip Timotija - 05/12/26 5:24 PM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING Republicans in the House and Senate vented their frustrations with the Pentagon on Tuesday, using a pair of back-to-back hearings to press Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the Iran war, President Trump s unusual plan to fund the Defense Department, spending priorities and America s dwindling munitions stockpiles. The hearings come as the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran stretches into its eleventh week, with the Strait of Hormuz still closed and no apparent off-ramp in sight even as Trump seeks a peace agreement. Here are the five takeaways from the two Appropriations subcommittee hearings: Republicans in both the House and Senate pressed Hegseth on Trump s mammoth $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget request, appearing skeptical of his proposal to fund $1.1 trillion through the regular appropriations process and another $350 billion through a reconciliation bill. Budget reconciliation is a process that Republicans could use to bypass a Democratic filibuster in the Senate but it is difficult and time-consuming — and a number of Republicans had previously expressed doubts about their ability to pass a third such bill after using their second shot at it to pass immigration enforcement funding. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), the chair of the House Appropriations subpanel, noted that questions persist. The subcommittee needs to understand how the resources requested in this budget translates into real, measurable improvements in warfighting capability, Calvert, adding that he has serious concerns about the Pentagon s method for funding. Hegseth replied that there s a reality in this town of what can get done and how it gets done and in a perfect world everything would get done in regular order and with a $1.5 trillion topline but there are a lot of challenges and dynamics, some of which I don t control. House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.), had similar concerns about the use of reconciliation to fund the Pentagon for the next fiscal year. I don t have any concerns about the amount. … I am worried about the ability to sustain that number through the reconciliation process, at some point the money disappears, Cole said. Later, at the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing, Chair Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hammered Hegseth over the plan, objecting to leaving crucial Pentagon programs — such as the Golden Dome missile defense system, munitions, the F-35 fighter jet and drone production — outside the normal reconciliation process. Political realities will not always allow a party-line budget reconciliation, and if the department s top priorities aren t built into annual appropriations, we re actually taking a big risk, McConnell said in his opening statement during a panel hearing. These key lines of effort only work if we put them on solid fiscal footing. Under intense questioning from several Senate lawmakers, both Hegseth and Caine repeatedly declined to offer any hint of the U.S. strategy in Iran or how leaders plan to deal with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. It seems there has been a different plan almost daily with dealing with this problem, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said of the blockade of the strait. After Hegseth claimed that the U.S. ultimately controls the vital shipping corridor, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) repeatedly asked what the administration s strategy was for reopening the strait to commercial shipping. If we control it, how do we reopen it? Coons asked. Hegseth shot back that Coons was being highly disingenuous and ignoring the U.S. s incredible battlefield successes. Later, under questioning from Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Hegseth said the U.S most certainly have military means by which they could open the strait, declining to go into detail. Why haven t you done if that s true? And that s not what has been testified to us in private briefings, Murphy said. Hegseth responded that the U.S would prefer a long-term strategy to open the strait but that we certainly have a lot more military pressure we can bring to bear if the president were to choose to do so. Later, when questioning Caine, Murphy asked how many missiles the Pentagon assessed Iran to still have, pointing to Trump s comments from last week when he said Tehran maybe had 18 to 19 percent of capacity left. U.S. intelligence agencies, however, reportedly found that Iran still has 70 percent of their missile and drone capability. How do we or the American public assess the success of the mission when you ve stated publicly the purpose of the mission is to destroy their missile and drone capability? How do we assess whether we should continue funding this if you can t state [that]? Murphy asked. All of our battle damage assessment matters are classified, and it would be inappropriate for me to comment in this forum o

Hegseth takes heat from Republicans in back-to-back hearings: 5 takeaways

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