(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing pushback from Senate Republicans over his decision to shut Democrats out of Pentagon budget briefings, with the lawmakers warning the partisan approach could ultimately undermine the Trump administration’s own defense priorities.
In a Wednesday Politico report, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) criticized the defense secretary for failing to make his case to Democrats as the Pentagon seeks congressional backing for President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget.
“He calls himself the secretary of war, but ironically, he doesn’t want to go to war and win the argument with nearly half the members of the Senate,” Tillis told the outlet. “You got to engage.”
Hegseth has made at least two recent trips to Capitol Hill to pitch lawmakers behind closed doors, according to Politico, but Democrats have reportedly been excluded from the sessions. That has alarmed Republicans who say the Pentagon will need Democratic votes to pass much of its defense spending package.
Revealing that he raised the issue directly with defense officials, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) added, “The Democrat members need to be brought up to speed. But there has to be a clear understanding that the information that’s being provided to them cannot be publicly discussed. And for some reason, some of the administration feels as though there’s a possibility that some of it would be leaked.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) similarly pushed for the briefings to include members of both parties, telling Politico, “I know that sometimes you want to have smaller groups, but I think it needs to be bipartisan.”
One Republican Armed Services Committee member told Politico the administration was “preaching to the choir” by pitching Republicans alone, adding, “It’s a briefing that should be provided to 100 senators.”
Expectedly, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell maintained that the department “remains fully committed to working with Congress to ensure our warfighters have the resources necessary to execute their mission.”
And importantly, Democrats may not be the only votes Hegseth has to worry about. While Politico notes that Republicans are “largely supportive” of the budget increase, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) warned in June that the request could put “key priorities at unnecessary risk” of “major disruptions.”
The post ‘You Got to Engage’: GOP Senators Scold Hegseth for Shutting Dems Out of Briefings first appeared on Mediaite.
