Hegseth Says Not Giving DOD $1.5 Trillion in Funding 'Greatest Threat' US Faces

The defense secretary made the remarks during a Senate pitch to add roughly $88 billion in Iran War-related spending.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in his opening remarks during a congressional hearing Tuesday that not fully funding the Department of Defense to the tune of $1.5 trillion is the "greatest threat" the United States faces at home and abroad.

Hegseth made the remarks while testifying today before the Senate Appropriations Committee, as the White House is requesting an additional $87.6 billion for "urgent needs" regarding the United States' ongoing military operations in Iran. He was joined in the hearing by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

That approximate $87.6 billion total would earmark roughly $67 billion for DOD, including approximately $21 billion for munitions, $17.3 billion for operational costs, and $12.1 billion for classified programs. The request also includes some $300 million for improved security at U.S. embassies and diplomatic outposts across the Middle East and South Asia.

"Rest assured that every dollar appropriated to the Department of War will be focused on building the lethality of our joint force and reinforcing peace through strength," Hegseth said in his opening statement directed at senators and the American people.

"As I have said before, not fully funding this department...given the world we live in and the disaster of what the Biden administration's budgets gave us, not funding this department at $1.5 trillion, I believe, is the greatest threat that our nation faces," he added.

The secretary said that Congress must decide to address this funding shortage right now as American military personnel fight in current conflicts and perhaps future ones. Otherwise, he said, "it's just talk."

The U.S. conducted military strikes against Iran on Tuesday for the 10th consecutive day, as the war that jointly started with U.S. and Israeli strikes began Feb. 28 now approaches the five-month mark without a ceasefire, a memorandum of understanding, or a solution to reopen the Strait of Hormuz that Iran has strategically used and that was open prior to U.S. military intervention in the region.

Lawmakers, notably on the Democratic side of the aisle, have referenced defense spending and the "illegal" war—including the lack of congressional war powers checks on the administration and Pentagon—as impetus to hold major defense spending legislation like the National Defense Authorization Act.

The hearing follows a weekend in which three U.S. service members lost their lives, bringing the total number of military casualties to 17 since the war began earlier this year.

The two active-duty soldiers who were supporting Operation Inherent Resolve have been identified by the U.S. Army as 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, who was killed in action on July 18. Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, was killed in action on July 17, during a same-day enemy attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon identified 30-year-old Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton of Fayetteville, N.C., as the U.S. service member killed in action on July 19 after a downed Iranian drone was detonated at Erbil Air Base in Iraq.

Another service member was declared missing when the announcements regarding the deaths of Feehan and Gonzales were made. There has been no update provided on that individual's identity or whereabouts.​

This story will be updated with additional information.