Key House Republicans press Hegseth, express skepticism on Pentagon budget

The top Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday seemed dubious of plans to fund the Pentagon’s $1.5 billion budget request as Congress waits to receive a supplemental request for tens of billions of dollars to fund the war in Iran.

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), the chair of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the Trump administration’s bid to get roughly $1 billion through the typical funding request process and the additional $500 billion through supplemental requests. 

“The subcommittee needs to understand how the resources requested in this budget translates into real, measurable improvements in warfighting capability,” Calvert said during a panel hearing on the defense budget, adding that he has “serious concerns” about the Pentagon’s ask.

“Questions persist about whether we are building the depth and reliance required for a high-end conflict,” he said.

Hegseth insisted that the historic budget the Pentagon is requesting is “a fiscally responsible budget, and it is a warfighting budget,” arguing that the administration inherited a defense industrial base that had been “hollowed out by years of America last policies, resulting in a diminished capability and capacity to project strength.”

As to the White House’s method to hit its funding goal, the Pentagon chief........

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