Senator Mark Kelly attends a confirmation hearing in January 2025. Kelly, an Air Force veteran, has repeatedly butted heads with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in his role on the Senate Armed Services Committee. (Shutterstock/Maxim Elramsisy)

Not Everyone in Congress Is on Board with Trump’s Mammoth Defense Budget

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Sen. Mark Kelly condemned the proposed $1.5 trillion military budget on Sunday, claiming that much of it was devoted to wasteful or dubiously effective projects.

Over the weekend, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) called the Pentagon’s proposed $1.5 trillion budget request “outrageous” and suggested that such an increase puts it at what nearly the rest of the world spends on defense combined.

“They need to submit a defense budget that makes sense for the moment we’re in,” Kelly, a Democratic lawmaker and retired US Navy officer and pilot, told CBS anchor Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation on Sunday.

Trump Says the Pentagon Needs $1.5 Trillion—Some Senators Disagree

Last month, President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the Department of Defense’s budget request for fiscal year 2027. The budget has yet to be finalized, but the White House often releases a budget request for negotiations with Congress.

The President’s Budget Request (PBR) serves as a proposal outlining defense priorities. The request, first announced on April 6, called for a 44 percent increase in DoD spending, as well as an additional 9 percent for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The administration can follow up with supplemental requests for unexpected........

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