Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are testifying Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee, where they’re expected to face questioning over the Trump administration’s $87 billion emergency supplemental spending package and escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict.
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The White House is asking for $67.1 billion in supplemental defense spending as part of a broader financial request. The extra money is intended to cover immediate military gaps while Congress debates the $1.5 trillion defense budget proposed for the next fiscal year.
Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he fully supports the defense supplemental request and said he would work with colleagues on Capitol Hill to move it forward.
“We must ensure our service members have everything they need to face an increasingly dangerous world,” Mr. Wicker said in a statement. “This supplemental funding is essential in the near term to maintain readiness through training and military pay.”
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The request would also accelerate the production of key capabilities, including hypersonics, strike weapons and drones, Mr. Wicker said.
“Supplemental resources will help ensure that our forces remain the most capable, lethal and ready in the world,” he said.
Mr. Hegseth is also expected to face tough questions from lawmakers over the U.S. service members killed in recent days, including two soldiers who died during an Iranian attack on their base in Jordan and a third who was killed in Iraq during a controlled explosion of a downed Iranian drone.
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