Hegseth Presses GOP Lawmakers for $350 Billion Pentagon Spending Increase Atop $1.1 Trillion Defense Appropriations

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is kicking off the Trump administration’s campaign on Capitol Hill to bypass the typical appropriations process and hike the Pentagon’s budget to $1.5 trillion. The administration is hoping to raise around $1.1 trillion this year for the Pentagon through the usual congressional procedures, which would require Democrats’ approval. That regular mechanism requires the Senate to reach a 60-vote threshold to end debate and vote for passage of legislation, ensuring that Democrats have a say in the annual appropriations. Mr. Hegseth and President Trump want Republicans to raise another $350 billion using budget reconciliation. That procedure would let GOP lawmakers avoid that 60-vote threshold and instead pass the increase with a simple majority. If that spending level becomes a reality, it will represent a 50-percent increase in military spending compared to last year. In a meeting on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Mr. Hegseth got at least Republican members on board. “I just met with Secretary Hegseth, and he said the Pentagon needs three $350 billion in the short-term, but one-and-a-half trillion in the long-term,” Senator John Cornyn told The New York Sun after the meeting. “So, I’m going to be doing everything I can to support that effort.”Mr. Cornyn said Republicans must circumvent the usual budget procedures because Democrats are not willing to support a massive increase in defense spending. “The problem is Democrats are all focused on the midterms. They couldn’t care less about national security,” Mr. Cornyn said. Already this year, Democrats were forced to stomach a three-year funding bill for immigration enforcement operations after the GOP-controlled Congress used the reconciliation process to bypass opposition to funding ICE and other deportation-focused agencies. Mr. Trump has been pushing lawmakers to add more agenda items to this one-time military funding increase. Mr. Cornyn threw cold water on the idea that Republicans could pass a third reconciliation bill in just two years — something never accomplished during a party’s trifecta control of government. Mr. Cornyn said he does not know if it is a “viable” option to pursue anything more than the Pentagon spending boost. Though the reconciliation procedure gets around Democratic objections, Mr. Cornyn’s Texas colleague, Senator Ted Cruz, is looking for more comprehensive legislative proposals, which likely cannot be achieved using reconciliation. “In the past year, President Trump & the GOP Congress have won historic victories—but we should NOT STOP WINNING,” Mr. Cruz wrote on X last week. “We should take up another reconciliation bill & deliver tax cuts, gas price relief, expanded Trump Accounts & the Save America Act!”Mr. Trump has demanded that the GOP include the SAVE America Act in the final reconciliation bill. That legislation would require proof of citizenship and the presentation of photo ID before an American is able to cast a ballot. Added to that bill, the president also wants a ban on transgender surgeries and hormone treatment for minors, a severe restriction of mail-in voting, and a ban on transgender athletes competing in sports leagues designated for a different biological sex. It is unlikely that those proposals could make it into the final bill. Under the reconciliation process, every section must deal primarily with spending and revenues. Amendments to include the SAVE America Act and the other proposals have been struck out of past legislation due to a lack of compliance with the Senate’s rules. On the other side of the Capitol, House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson, say they want to crack down on Medicaid fraud and other problems in entitlement programs. Mr. Johnson said in a post on X last week that he wants to see those kinds of measures passed this Congress, meaning before January when the new session begins.

Hegseth Presses GOP Lawmakers for $350 Billion Pentagon Spending Increase Atop $1.1 Trillion Defense Appropriations

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