House Lawmakers to Grill Hegseth on $1.5 Trillion Pentagon Budget Request

House lawmakers will question Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday about the Pentagon's $1.5 trillion budget request in a high-stakes hearing before the House Appropriations Committee.

Democrats and some Republicans have voiced concerns over the request's size, which calls for nearly a 50% increase in defense funding from 2026 levels alongside cuts to domestic spending. The Trump administration says the rise is needed to counter threats from geopolitical rivals, restock weapons and expand the defense industrial base.

Hegseth also faces questions on U.S. military strategy toward Iran, where peace talks between Washington and Tehran remain stalled. Trump said Monday during an Oval Office news conference that the ceasefire with Iran is "on life support."

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst will testify with Hegseth. The group appeared in back-to-back congressional hearings in April, where Hegseth sparred with Democrats over the U.S. campaign against Iran.

"The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans," Hegseth told lawmakers.

Hurst told Congress in April that the Iran war has cost $25 billion so far, mainly on munitions, though reports suggest the figure could be higher. The Department of Defense plans a larger supplemental request after the conflict ends.

"It's shocking how deep we have gone into these magazines," Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said Sunday on CBS News' "Face the Nation." "Because this president got our country into this without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline, and because of that, we've expended a lot of munitions, and that means the American people are less safe."

Hegseth accused Kelly of leaking classified information and said Pentagon legal counsel would review his comments. "Did he violate his oath…again?" Hegseth wrote on social media, alluding to prior efforts to sanction Kelly, a Navy veteran, for telling troops to disregard illegal orders last year.

The budget faces resistance from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Democrats, who vow to block it. Senate passage requires 60 votes to overcome the filibuster, so some Democratic support is essential.

Kelly called the fiscal year 2027 request "outrageous" and urged a new budget suited to current needs. "When I got to the Senate five and a half years ago, the defense budget was just over $700 billion," he said on "Face the Nation." "Now, they're asking for twice as much money. It's nearly the amount that the rest of the world pays for its defense."

The proposal includes more than $65 billion for the Navy's "Golden Fleet" initiative, nearly $20 billion for Trump's Golden Dome air defense shield, plus billions for the next-generation F-47 fighter jet and unmanned systems.

Non-defense cuts would reduce State Department and international programs by a third and the Environmental Protection Agency by 50%, among others.

One issue from April is resolved: Hegseth announced late that month the release of $400 million in congressionally approved 2025 aid to Ukraine, after facing questions on delays before the House Armed Services Committee.