McConnell hammers Hegseth over Pentagon funding plan, alienating allies

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........

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