politics
Hegseth in the hotseat
Key takeaways
- House and Senate GOP lawmakers vented their frustrations with the Pentagon on Tuesday, using a pair of back-to-back hearings to grill Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
- Later, at the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing, Chair Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hammered the Pentagon chief over the plan, objecting to leaving crucial Pentagon programs outside the normal defense budget.
- 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
Why this matters: political developments that affect policy direction and public trust.
Link copied by Ellen Mitchell - 05/12/26 6:03 PM ET Link copied Welcome to The Hill s Defense & Nat Sec newsletter{beacon}
House and Senate GOP lawmakers vented their frustrations with the Pentagon on Tuesday, using a pair of back-to-back hearings to grill Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Republicans in both chambers pressed Hegseth on President 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.
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