Pete Hegseth just got a warning from his own party over his latest Pentagon move. Republican senators criticized the defense secretary for excluding Democrats from classified budget briefings.
Republican senators are challenging Hegseth over the exclusion of Democrats from defense budget talks
Multiple Republican senators have pushed back against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for barring Democrats from classified defense spending briefings, Politico reported. Hegseth visited Capitol Hill at least twice in recent weeks to advocate for President Donald Trump’s historic $1.5 trillion military budget proposal. Democratic lawmakers were shut out of the private sessions on each occasion.
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis contended that Hegseth was weakening his own budget pitch through the exclusions. “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 said. “You got to engage.” The rebuke holds particular significance because large portions of next year’s defense budget still need Democratic support to pass.
Senate Democrats have in response threatened to boycott the spending bills entirely over the snub. Republicans can advance some elements through the party-line reconciliation process without opposition votes. However, they cannot secure the full budget package without bipartisan cooperation, potentially derailing administration priorities this fall.
South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds revealed he had directly raised Democratic engagement with defense department officials. “The Democrat members need to be brought up to speed,” Rounds said.
He noted that Pentagon leaders worried classified information would leak if Democrats participated. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski similarly urged inclusive briefings. “I know that sometimes you want to have smaller groups, but I think it needs to be bipartisan,” she said.
Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell defended the department’s approach to congressional engagement. “Secretary Hegseth and senior department leadership regularly engage with lawmakers to discuss the defense budget, readiness, and national security priorities,” Parnell said.
Hegseth had previously told the House Armed Services Committee in April that congressional Democrats represented the “biggest impediment” to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
