The Big Story 

House Armed Services Committee Democrats have attempted to hold Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accountable for numerous Pentagon scandals, but to no avail. 

© AP

During the Tuesday markup of the $150 billion Pentagon spending measure — part of the GOP’s massive reconciliation legislation — Democrats offered several amendments to address Hegseth’s use of the Signal messaging app to relay sensitive military plans, as well as the reported chaos in the Defense Department under his leadership.

“They have not even begun to prove that there is a chance in hell that they will spend this money intelligently, efficiently and effectively,” committee ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said at the top of the meeting, referring to President Trump and his Pentagon chief.

“Secretary Hegseth has proven himself to be completely incapable of doing the job of secretary of Defense.”

Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) said the fact that Hegseth is still in his role “is a joke” and that she was appalled by Republicans’ silence. 

“At some point, you have to speak to the American people,” she said.

The GOP’s reconciliation bill has already drawn Democrats’ ire as it would cause steep cuts in several federal agencies and non-defense programs while boosting Pentagon coffers to more than $1 trillion when combined with the already approved $886 billion defense budget for fiscal year 2025.

It’s a rare instance that the method of reconciliation is being used to raise the military’s budget, with House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) calling it a “historic day” for the panel and “an opportunity to make a generational investment in our national security.”

Though Republicans had the numbers to advance the measure, Democrats drew out the markup by debating more than 20 amendments that touched mostly on Hegseth. The Pentagon secretary has been in hot water over revelations he used the Signal app in March to relay airstrike plans against Houthi militants in Yemen to his wife, brother and personal lawyer, as well as mistakenly to a journalist in a separate chat with senior national security officials.

Smith, for example, offered an amendment that would have prevented 75 percent of the $150 billion from being used until Hegseth reviewed the Pentagon’s classification policies and developed a plan for better operational security.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), offered an amendment that would have stopped the entire bill from taking effect until Hegseth is out at the Pentagon.

But Republicans refused to play ball, with no GOP members joining the debate over Hegseth’s fitness to serve and no proposals from Democrats adopted by the committee. 

Read the full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

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