Pentagon Pete’s Partisan Antics Slammed by Senate Republican
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s exclusion of congressional Democrats from classified briefings has drawn the ire of at least one Senate Republican.
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Hegseth, according to Politico, has been making massive budget requests for his department as the Iran war drags on. But in the process, he reportedly has kept Democrats on the outs—a move that concerns Republicans who say Democratic votes may be needed to pass funding legislation.
“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,” said 65-year-old Thom Tillis, the retiring North Carolina senator who has split with Trump on several issues during his second term. “You got to engage.”
An unnamed Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee told the outlet that there was little point to Hegseth making his case only to Republicans.
“They’re preaching to the choir when they have Republicans on the Armed Services Committee, and they’re making a case for the budget,” this person said. “It’s a briefing that should be provided to 100 senators.”
Other GOP senators spoke similarly of the need to involve Democrats.
“The Democrat members need to be brought up to speed,” South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds told Politico. “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.”
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Rounds, according to the report, said he mentioned his disagreement with defense officials.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski added, “I know that sometimes you want to have smaller groups, but I think it needs to be bipartisan.”
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons told Politico that multiple Republican colleagues have asked Hegseth to reach out to Democrats on funding matters. Hegseth’s reluctance to do so may backfire if he needs Democratic votes for money to the Pentagon, Coons told the secretary.
Hegseth’s department has requested $1.5 trillion from Congress.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement to Politico that the department “remains fully committed to working with Congress to ensure our warfighters have the resources necessary to execute their mission.”
Hegseth, 46, and other senior Pentagon officials “regularly engage with lawmakers to discuss the defense budget, readiness, and national security priorities,” he added.
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The Daily Beast has contacted Tillis’ office and the Pentagon for comment.
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