Pete Hegseth wants Congress to sign off on $1.5 trillion in military funding and is facing opposition from both Democrats and Republicans. A report in Semafor details the obstacles Hegseth is facing to his “eye-popping” budget request, which has given many in the GOP “real intraparty concerns” about his leadership.
Hegseth wants what CNN dubbed a “massive increase” in military spending, which would reportedly come at the cost of Americans’ housing, social services and healthcare, and has been billed by Hegseth as a “generational investment”.
While addressing the Senate Appropriations Committee in July, he said (via Military.com) opposing his plan would be an existential threat to the nation: “As I have said before, not fully funding this department…given the world we live in and the disaster of what the Biden administration’s budgets gave us, not funding this department at $1.5 trillion, I believe, is the greatest threat that our nation faces.”
“Put down the bong”
Semafor’s report quotes a Trump administration official as saying there could be drama ahead: “This could turn into a real standoff with the military caught in the middle. The implications: There won’t be money available to pay recruitment bonuses, money to upgrade military housing and repair military housing won’t be there, money to fix ships and aircraft from the war won’t be there, and money to restockpile munitions won’t be there. And the longer this drags out, the more dangerous it becomes, because we’re really depleted after the Iran war.”
An anonymous Republican senator also indicated this couldn’t come at a worse time with the midterms around the corner: “There are a lot of people that are really upset with the war in Iran and how it’s being played out. We feel it’s hurting our chances in the elections in the fall, and it seems rather haphazard. … We don’t like what we’re seeing when it comes to the pulling of officers off of the promotion lists. We don’t like what we see with … indiscriminate firings of admirals and generals across the force.”
However, even with opposition and skepticism from Republicans, it doesn’t appear Trump is likely to replace him anytime soon. The Republican official reportedly said, “The president still is very much in Pete’s corner, but beneath him, there are very serious concerns. Are they going to be able to get any additional money through? Are they going to be able to get any nominees confirmed?”
This comes against a backdrop of other Republicans openly expressing their concerns about Hegseth. Sen. Thom Tillis said in July (via The Daily Beast), “I don’t have any confidence in him anymore. I think he’s all over the place, he’s accelerating the retirement or forcing out some of the most distinguished leaders in the DOD that we have… I think he’s got a massive insecurity complex, he has a lack of experience in large organizations, he micromanages too much. He’s lost my confidence.”
In August Sen. Lisa Murkowski also sounded doubtful, saying (via Politico): “So much of that additional defense funding is banking on not only a third, but potentially a fourth reconciliation [bill]. So what if that doesn’t come? I’ve asked [Pentagon officials]: you have your F-35s, your Patriot missiles baked into that — what’s your plan B? And it’s been tough to get an answer.”
GOP Sen. John Kennedy was even more frank, saying (via Semafor) that Hegseth will need to work with them to get this increase passed: “Anybody who thinks that we’re going to get money for the Pentagon, which needs it, other than through reconciliation, needs to put down the bong.”
Published: Sep 29, 2026 09:55 am