A debate is brewing in Congress over the future of the defense budget as Republicans look to add up to $150 billion more to the existing $850 billion budget at the same time the Pentagon is reportedly weighing a massive cut.
In twin developments this week, the Senate advanced a budget resolution that envisions a $150 billion increase to the defense budget, and the Pentagon confirmed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a review to find $50 billion in what the department referred to as "offsets."
While many details about the Pentagon plan remain unclear, the developments there and in Congress embody a growing tension in the GOP between fiscal hawks cheering on the Trump administration's slash-and-burn campaign through the federal government and defense hawks who see the Trump administration as a chance to supercharge defense funding after spending four years criticizing Democratic defense budgets.
As congressional Republicans debate how high to go on defense funding, the Pentagon is reportedly weighing cuts of up to 8% each year for the next five years. The idea stoked immediate bipartisan backlash, and defense spending will ultimately be set by Congress -- though the Trump administration already has a record[2] of defying congressional spending mandates.
Several reports this week[3] said that Hegseth sent a memo to senior Pentagon and military leaders ordering them to identify cuts. In a statement after the reports, Acting Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Salesses said that Hegseth "has directed a review to identify offsets from the Biden administration's FY26 budget that could be realigned from low-impact and low-priority Biden-legacy programs to align with President [Donald] Trump's America First priorities for our national defense."
The statement suggested the review is meant to reallocate funding, rather than cut the overall budget, and Hegseth, in a video posted to social media Thursday night, denounced media reports of a cut. But the Pentagon has not publicly released Hegseth's memo.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who wants to see a $1 trillion defense budget, backed the idea of finding offsets within the Pentagon and downplayed the notion that it would result in an overall cut.
"I have spoken with President Trump repeatedly, and he intends to deliver a desperately needed military rebuild and Pentagon reform agenda," Wicker said in a statement Thursday. "This agenda requires significant real growth in the defense topline through the combination of reconciliation and annual spending."
Lawmakers in both parties decried Hegseth's moves.
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, called Hegseth's memo "half-baked," while Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that "hasty, indiscriminate budget cuts would betray our military forces and their families and make America less safe."
"Congress is not going to cut our military by 40%," Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, vowed in a social media post.
The Trump administration's planning comes against a backdrop of Congress pressing ahead with a plan to infuse billions more dollars into the defense budget.
Early Friday morning, the Senate voted 52-48 along party lines to approve a resolution that endorses $340 billion in future spending, including $150 billion for defense.
"This budget resolution is a complete game changer when it comes to securing our border and making our military more lethal," Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement after the resolution passed. "It will allow President Trump to fulfill the promises he made to the American people -- a very big deal."
The resolution itself does not provide the funding, or even specify exactly what the money would be used for. Rather, it unlocks a process known as "reconciliation" that would allow Republicans to pass a bill that enacts Trump's agenda with a simple majority in the Senate, rather than the 60 votes needed on most legislation.
The reconciliation process is separate from the annual appropriations process that keeps the government funded and avoids a shutdown. The reported Pentagon cuts, if they come to fruition, would be debated as part of the appropriations process.
The reconciliation bill, once it is written, would specify what the defense funding would go toward, but in a summary earlier this month, Graham said he envisions the money boosting the Navy[4], air and missile defense, and nuclear posture.
House Republicans have been pursuing their own reconciliation plan that would boost defense funding by $100 billion.
Trump endorsed the House plan, which includes tax cuts he's seeking, but he has also thanked Senate Republicans for their efforts. The House is expected to vote on its budget resolution next week.
