Lawmakers from both sides push Pentagon for details on supplemental funding request

A bipartisan cadre of lawmakers in both the House and Senate expressed frustration with the Pentagon on Tuesday for the lack of information the department has provided on its budget request.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst III testified on Tuesday about the budget request in back-to-back hearings in front of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee and the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.

The fiscal 2027 request includes $1.15 trillion in the base budget with an expected $350 billion from reconciliation, which is a congressional tactic that allows measures to pass with a simple majority in the Senate.

“The subcommittee needs to understand how the resources requested in this budget translates into real, measurable improvements in warfighting capability,” Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), the chair of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, said during the hearing on Tuesday.

“It would be helpful to get the