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Hegseth's treatment of lawmakers threatens Trump's $1.5 trillion defense plan

This summer, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked a Republican lawmaker what he thought the odds were that Congress would pass the Trump administrations record $1.5 trillion defense budget request. The chances, the lawmaker responded, were about the same as Hegseth getting confirmed again by the Senate. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. You have a problem, and you need to increase the amount and the quality of the communication with Congress, the Republican lawmaker recounted in an interview, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe the private exchange. Months later, members of both parties said the Pentagon has not changed course. For decades, defense issues have mostly remained insulated from Washingtons toxic partisanship. But Republicans and Democrats say they increasingly fear that fire wall no longer exists. With just over 20 legislative days left in the year - and next weeks election likely to empower Democrats eager to confront Hegseth - lawmakers are deadlocked on their major defense policy and spending bills. Failure would leave the Pentagon with few options to replace the thousands of weapons spent during eight months of war with Iran and halt the administrations ambitious military agenda. To understand how the consensus collapsed, The Washington Post spoke with 30 people at the center of national security in Congress, including 20 lawmakers who sit on the committees that oversee the Pentagon and its budget. Republicans argued that Democrats are stalling critical military funding to placate voters incensed at President Donald Trump. Democrats framed their opposition as a necessary check on an administration that the GOP-controlled House and Senate have refused to hold accountable for starting a war without the approval of Congress. But most lawmakers who spoke with The Post described the impasse in more personal terms. Hegseths adversarial behavior - from withholding information to attacking Democrats and some Republicans - was straining the bipartisan dealmaking that has long ensured support for the military, members of both parties said. The people who have been around for a few days have seen what normal looks like, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Connecticut) said. Were not living in normal. In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Joel Valdez defended Hegseths approach, saying the secretary is always willing to engage directly with any lawmakers who bring forward their concerns in good faith. Lawmakers understand exactly how critical the National Defense Authorization Act and defense appropriations are to military readiness, Valdez said, referring to the pending bills. We do not expect them to deliberately cripple the force or our warfighting capability simply to score political points. The collapse of bipartisanship The NDAA is widely considered a must-pass bill. The legislation, which covers issues from troop pay to weapons production, has advanced for 65 consecutive years. A similar, albeit less reliable, coalition helps pass the annual defense spending bill, which provides the money to pay troops, buy weapons and conduct military operations worldwide. The group of Republicans and Democrats who typically support the legislation has fractured this year. The NDAA failed to advance in the Senate and barely passed the House, where more Republicans voted against it than Democrats voted for it. The two chambers are negotiating a final version with votes expected later this fall. At greater risk of failing, most lawmakers said, is the annual defense budget. The Trump administrations $1.5 trillion plan would fund a range of advanced weaponry, from commercial-style drones to precision missiles depleted during the Iran war. It directs billions more toward some of Trumps personal projects for the military, including a Golden Dome missile defense shield, a fleet of battleships named after him and renaming the Defense Department as the War Department. Hegseth has called the 40 percent increase in spending an urgent, necessary injection of resources to outpace Americas adversaries. He has also urged Congress to approve an additional $67 billion in funding to help cover the costs of the Iran war and other military operations around the world. Nearly all Senate Democrats blocked the request in an extraordinary act of protesting the conflict. In a move that has frustrated some Republicans, the administration split the defense budget into two buckets: $1.15 trillion that will require some Democratic support and another $350 billion meant to pass with GOP votes alone. Republicans have so far failed to agree on a strategy to pass the party-line share of funding. The gridlock has left the military vulnerable, lawmakers said. U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, estimated that as of mid-October the Iran conflict had cost more than $47 billion, forcing the Pentagon to delay trainings and maintenance projects just to cover its bills. After failing to reach a lasting ceasefire this summer, the president has threatened to restart strikes after the midterms. Russia and China are questioning whether or not we have the resources and the ability to quickly replace dwindling stocks and ammunition, said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota), who faulted Democrats for holding up the defense budget. Youre mad at the president, but youre taking it out on these men and women who are following orders. Excluding the Democrats Democrats say the Trump administration is blaming them for problems of its own making. To come in and say, Oh, by the way, we made this choice and we spent all this money and we need you to replenish it - it takes a lot of nerve, said Sen. Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats. The Trump administration has excluded Democrats from several briefings on the $350 billion in defense spending it hopes to pass on a party-line vote. These meetings have broken a long-standing practice of sharing national security information equally with each party, lawmakers said. Multiple Republicans noted that the administration has tightened the briefings in part due to concerns about leaks to the news media, which Trump officials have blamed on congressional Democrats. Many in the GOP said they had urged the Pentagon to include both parties. If we are asking them to make these country-altering decisions, I think we have to inform them, said Sen. Kevin Cramer (North Dakota), one of multiple Republicans who noted theyd urged the Pentagon to share more information with Democrats. The Republican lawmaker who offered Hegseth his blunt assessment of the $1.5 trillion request also said that Democrats are partly to blame for the lack of communication. Earlier this year, the lawmaker said, he brokered a private meeting between Hegseth and a small group of Democrats. All of the Democrats declined to meet with the secretary, the lawmaker said. Other members of Congress faulted Hegseth for the distrust. In April, while appearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Hegseth delivered a broadside in his opening remarks. The biggest adversary we face at this point, he said, are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans. At one point during the hearing, Rep. Austin Scott (Georgia), a senior Republican on the committee, noted that the administration would need Republican and Democratic votes to secure its budget. The way Hegseth treats people is a problem, Scott said in an interview. Shockingly unprofessional During Hegseths first private meeting with the Senate Armed Services Committee, in June 2025, he opened with a warning, according to three people familiar with his remarks. Though the hearing was classified, the secretary said, he didnt know - and didnt trust - everyone in the room and would watch what he said, these people recalled. They cited the exchange as an example of Hegseths combativeness. Its as shockingly unprofessional as anything I see, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who voted against Hegseths confirmation and has opposed the Iran war, said of the secretarys tone. Current and former officials familiar with Hegseths relationships on Capitol Hill disputed assertions that the Pentagon was withholding information from Congress or refusing to meet with Democrats. They said Hegseths private meetings had been professional and noted that Democrats had openly attacked him, accusing him of mismanagement and dishonesty. The Pentagon did not directly address questions about this encounter or others detailed in this report. The contentious relationship has led some Republicans to ask the Pentagon to instead send uniformed officers to brief Congress, lawmakers said. Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the Staff, has hosted private breakfasts with Republicans and Democrats at the Pentagon in an attempt to build more bipartisan support for the budget, according to lawmakers and others familiar with the sessions. A spokesperson for Caine declined to comment. Meanwhile, members of both parties voiced a sense of resignation that the defense-related committees were becoming more partisan. Democrats dont want to work on anything in a bipartisan way that could be construed as giving Trump a win, said Sen. Deb Fischer (Nebraska), a senior Republican. Many Democrats said they are worried that the Pentagons shortfalls could hamstring military readiness for years, including in a future Democratic administration. But they argued that they need to use every tool they have to resist what they see as an unconstitutional war. We are taking serious risks with our national security and should not be, said Sen. Chris Coons (Delaware), the top Democrat on the Senate panel on defense spending. At the end of the day, the presidents responsible for the decisions hes made. Multiple people familiar with the budget negotiations, some speaking on the condition of anonymity to provide their candid assessment, said that the Trump administrations $1.5 trillion request was probably impossible with so little time left in the year. A U.S. official familiar with Hegseths relationships with lawmakers asserted that the full budget request was still viable and that Republicans, if they lose control of Congress, would see this as their last chance to secure defense-related priorities without Democratic votes. Doubts about the budget have come at a low point for Hegseths standing with congressional Republicans, who have signaled they will oppose his preferred picks to lead the Army and criticized him more openly in recent weeks. When the House returns in November, Hegseth will probably face an impeachment vote, led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), over the Iran war. Meanwhile, some Democrats felt emboldened heading into next weeks election - they appear likely to at least regain control of the House - and the prospect of launching aggressive oversight of the Pentagon. Earlier this year, Hegseth held private breakfasts with the top Republicans and Democrats on the Armed Services committees, in an effort to improve his standing. Rep. Adam Smith (Washington), the House Armed Services Committees top Democrat, recalled saying near the end of his meeting with Hegseth that, despite their disagreements, they didnt have to be enemies. In an interview, Smith said he wasnt looking to partner with this Pentagon. Im looking, he added, for ways to stop the awful things theyre doing with our military. Related Content This article originally appeared on Washington Post at https://washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/10/29/inside-breakdown-trumps-15-trillion-pentagon-plan/