Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has spent a year and a half getting away with plenty—controversial Iran operations, Signal chats that risked troops, mass firings, National Guard deployments to blue cities, and even renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War.
Republicans mostly covered for him. Now he wants the real prize: a jaw-dropping, record-breaking $1.5 trillion defense budget packed with Trump-branded goodies like nuclear-capable battleships and a “Golden Dome” missile shield.
He’s been trekking to the Hill, warning senators that anything less is basically national suicide. The result? Senators packed up for summer recess no closer to producing it. An increasingly vocal group of Republicans is asking the awkward questions: Why burn precious pre-midterm political capital on this? What’s Plan B if the third (or fourth) reconciliation bill doesn’t materialize? And why hand the White House even more blank-check power?
Even defense hawks who normally salivate over bigger Pentagon budgets are side-eyeing the two-track funding scheme, Politico reports. Top appropriators are openly skeptical.
Meanwhile, the administration still can’t seem to keep Congress properly informed on operations or spending. Trump reportedly remains “extremely happy” with Pentagon Pete. Everyone else in the party appears to have discovered, at the least convenient moment, that loyalty has limits—especially when the price tag hits $1.5 trillion, and November is looming over their necks.
Ah, yes, the midterms are going to be lit, and Democrats will launch a fuckton of investigations, including into former Fox News personality Pete Hegseth. Republicans know what's coming. Accountability.
