Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee Chair Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Trump administration’s tenuous plans to fund key parts of the Pentagon’s $1.5 billion budget request and for alienating U. S. allies amid several major world conflicts.
McConnell objected to putting crucial Pentagon programs — such as the Golden Dome missile defense system, munitions, the F-35 fighter jet and drone production — in a reconciliation bill separate from the annual defense appropriations bill.
“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.”
The Trump administration plans to fund its Pentagon budget for fiscal year 2027 via allocating $1.1 trillion in a traditional appropriations request and adding $350 billion through reconciliation, a process that allows the current Republican majority to sidestep any objections from Democrats.
But McConnell said that approach is tenuous given that the GOP could lose its majority come November elections. Other Republicans have also expressed skepticism about being able to complete a third budget reconciliation bill this fall after using their second shot at the process on a narrowly taylored bill to fund immigration enforcement.
House appropriators raised similar concerns about how the defense budget is structured earlier Tuesday, when Hegseth sat for several hours testifying before the lawmakers.
McConnell also criticized President Trump over his alienation of traditional U. S. allies, advocating for NATO and defending Ukraine.
Trump earlier this month announced he would pull 5,000 U. S. troops from Germany and threatened additional action amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The president has frequently attacked U. S. allies over their failure to enter the war in Iran or help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, calling the countries “cowards,” and making veiled threats to pull Washington from the NATO military alliance.
Strained relationships with U. S. partners and allies “only serves our adversaries’ interests and limits our capacity and deterrent power globally,” McConnell told Hegseth.
“I want to hear about the future of capacity building with committed allies and partners,” he added.
He also made clear he wanted to see U. S. lethal aid previously approved for Ukraine “reach their destination without further delay.”
McConnell has been a major advocate for the $400 million Congress set aside for Ukraine at the start of the year, calling out the Pentagon for withholding the funds in an April 28 editorial in The Washington Post.
“I want to underscore this is not charity. When our partners are capable, deterrence is stronger and the risk to our own service members is lower,” McConnell said Tuesday.
“Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East clearly show we that have things to learn from our friends.”
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