Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly will appear before Congress later this month to answer questions concerning President Donald Trump’s proposed Defense spending.
Hegseth is scheduled to testify before the House Armed Services Committee on June 12, and then before its Senate counterpart on June 17, a Pentagon spokesperson said in a Monday email to Air & Space Forces Magazine.
On Tuesday, ABC News reported Hegseth will appear before Congress on June 10.
Neither the House nor the Senate committee had updated the online lists of upcoming hearings as of late Tuesday morning.
Hegseth’s appearance will be the first time the secretary publicly faces lawmakers since being confirmed by the Senate in January.
The Trump administration is seeking a first-ever $1 trillion Defense budget for fiscal year 2026 via a tax-and-spending package passed by the House, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported. The Senate now will weigh in on the legislation.
Defense funding would include money to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile-defense project.
Besides the budget, Hegseth likely will be asked questions about Signal chat messaging and Trump administration decisions.
In April, Hegseth said “informal, unclassified coordinations” were shared in an online chat and he added that an internal probe into leakers at the Pentagon continues.
The New York Times reported Hegseth shared detailed information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer.
That report followed news that The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief was accidentally included in a March 13 group chat with top Trump administration officials, including Hegseth and White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, who were discussing plans for military action in Yemen.
Last month, Hegseth directed the active duty military to shed 20% of its four-star general officers as the administration keeps pushing the services to streamline their top leadership positions. He also told the National Guard to shed 20% of its top positions.
Reuters reported the Pentagon is halting gender healthcare for transgender troops as it moves to implement Trump’s plan to kick them out of the U.S. military.
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