The two Republican senators sharply criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegses on Wednesday for Trump's handling of Russia to end the war in Ukraine, revealing that they would deepen the party's national division over foreign policy.
Sen. Mitch McConnell – one of three Republicans who opposed the confirmation of Hegses in January, launched a Senate budget hearing over a blunt criticism of President Trump's approach to Ukraine.
“The American reputation seems pretty obvious,” said McConnell, a former Senate Majority leader who leads the Defense Subcommittee of the Approximately Defense Committee. “Will we protect our democratic allies against authoritarian invaders?”
McConnell, an outspoken hawk on Russia and military issues, has been critical of the Trump administration's defense spending plan and has rebutted Hegses' claim that the administration has made the biggest investment in the military in 20 years through Trump's settlement package.
McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said he has put military spending in that package and hasn't increased spending on the regular budget.
The exchange between McConnell and Hegses leads to a declining cohort of Republican internationalists like McConnell and brave wings led by figures like Hegses and Vice President JD Vance, who clarifies the “first American” views around Grove.
“At the end of this conflict, we don't want a headline that says Russia will win and America will lose,” McConnell told the Pentagon chief, cheating him that it did not include additional Ukrainian military aid in the Pentagon's proposal budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican of South Carolina, also challenged Hegses and General Dan Kane, chairman of the Chief of Staff.
“I don't think he is,” General Cain said.
“We can't see it yet,” Hegses said.
Graham cut off his secretary and mentioned the expansion of Nazi Germany's territory before World War II. “Well, he says it isn’t, this is the 30s.
The interaction was more confrontational than the friendly reception the secretary received from House Republicans at a similar budget hearing Tuesday.
But like that House hearing, Senate Democrats on Wednesday announced the administration's decision to call nearly 5,000 Marines and National Guard members to Los Angeles to quell sporadic anxiety.
Hegses told the senators that the same legal authorities the Pentagon used to send Marines to Los Angeles could be used in other cities “if there is a riot where law enforcement officials are being threatened.”
He added: “There will be the ability to spike the National Guard there if necessary.”
In other exchanges, Hegses spoke more harshly with the Democrats than McConnell and Graham.
He refused to respond directly twice when Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, asked whether it was a proper response to Trump supporters' attacks on the Capitol twice.
Instead, the secretary responded, saying that the deployment of the National Guard into Los Angeles was appropriate. Murphy contrasted his rebellion against those who criticize Trump in Los Angeles with willingness to deploy the military to agree to the deployment of the National Guard to protect the Capitol.
Hegses admitted that the Los Angeles National Guard mission has nothing to do with “lethal,” one of his pentagonal tenure priorities. He said the military's mission there was instead about “law and order.” In response, Sen. Jack Reid, a Rhode Island Democrat, said “law and order are not the military, but the civil function of the United States.” He added that the presence of national security forces in the city is probably illegal and a “decrease in the military.”
Sen. Richard J. Durbin, a Democrat of Illinois, criticized the prime minister for cutting off military medical research by spending $45 million on the parade on Saturday, celebrating the Army's 250th birthday, which also fell on Trump's birthday.
“This doesn't match what men and women in uniform deserve,” Durbin said.
John Ismai and Robert Jimison Reports of contributions.
