▶ 0:03:08Good morning. Subcommittee on defense will come to order today. The subcommittee will convene for an open oversight hearing to receive testimony regarding the Department of Defense from the Honorable Pete Hexiff, Secretary of Defense, General Dan Ka, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mr. Secretary General Kaine, congratulations to you both on your new roles and welcome to your first hearing before the subcommittee. We look forward to working with you closely to provide for our common defense. And a very special welcome to uh Mrs.
▶ 0:03:38Bin McDonald. Uh Brenn is great to have you back here in in this room. You sat beside me on this side of the DAS, so it might be a new sitting where you are now. So, uh, I'm sure it's, uh, a bittersweet that you're no longer serving as a dependent member of my staff, but, uh, I commend your service to the nation. And, Mr. Secretary, uh, you're lucky to have her.
▶ 0:04:04I have no doubt that she'll provide you with the same level of faithful advice that she provided for me. The work we do in this committee has never been more important. We are navigating an increasingly complex and uncertain global environment with adversaries like China and Russia pursuing aggressive actions and challenges in regions like the Indo-acific, the Middle East and beyond.
▶ 0:04:27Our military must be prepared to meet those challenges and that preparation requires substantial investments in both personnel and equipment. But we also must be responsible stewards of the taxpayer dollars. Balancing national security priorities with fiscal responsibility is a delicate but necessary task. Mr.
▶ 0:04:46Secretary, I commend you for quickly hitting the ground running and focusing on your key priorities of reviving the warrior ethos, uh, building our military, reestablishing deterrence, and ensuring the defense of our homeland. The American people expect their borders to be secure. The challenges of our southern border, including the ongoing flow of illegal drugs, human trafficking, and other illicit activities, are growing threats to our security and must be addressed.
▶ 0:05:14The cartels exploiting our border and increasingly sophisticated and dangerous. The Department of Defense has a critical role in this fight. Mr. Secretary, I applaud your efforts in focusing resources to ensure the border is secured. I look forward to more discussion about what resources are necessary to keep the momentum going without compromising our ability to meet threats abroad. I also want to hear from you both about the readiness of our force.
▶ 0:05:41I have heard from senior military leaders and service members alike about the ongoing concerns related to the health of our force, including the need for modernization, the ability to respond quickly to emerging threats. While this committee has consistently provided funding for investments in next generation systems from hypersonics to autonomous platforms, we're still seeing troubling delays and cost overruns in a number of programs.
▶ 0:06:05We simply cannot deter nearpeer competitors like China by falling short in sustaining our defense and industrial base. That is why it's critical that we continue to focus on the pace of modernization, particularly in areas like air superiority and munitions production. The committee has been steadfast in our support of entities within the department that challenges the status quo such as DIU, the office of strategic capital and app.
▶ 0:06:34These innovation entities are alternative pathways to deliver capability quickly to the war fighter and I would appreciate the opportunity to work with you to bolster these activities as a way to bring disruption and competition into the department which in my experience can yield better and faster results. I also want to discuss the critical importance of our partnerships and alliances.
▶ 0:06:56The AUS agreement is one of the most significant defense initiatives in recent years with the potential to reshape the strategic landscape in the Indoacific. As we pursue these initiatives, we must ensure that we are maintaining our own military capability. Our ship building programs remain over budget and behind schedule and underdelivered.
▶ 0:07:16This is simply not acceptable and we need to have credible executable naval force structure planned to keep pace with threats that we face particularly from China while ensuring taxpayer accountability. Finally, we must always remember the men and women who wear the uniform. Far too long we heard from too many junior enlisted service members who were struggling with basic needs. These men and women, the backbone of our armed forces.
▶ 0:07:43They perform the tough and often dangerous work that keeps our country safe. I was proud to help secure a 10% raise for our junior enlisted service members on top of the 4.5% raise that all service members received last year. It's critical that we continue to provide support for all those who fight in defense of our great nation. We ask a lot of our military and the strategic landscape is more complex than ever.
▶ 0:08:08I look forward to a frank discussion on how we are matching resources to priorities and honoring our comm commitments to both readiness and to our people. I now recognize a distinguished ranking member, Miss McCullum, for her opening remarks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I'd like to thank all of you for appearing here today, and I'd like to thank all the men and women who serve in our military, both wearing the uniform and as civilians. As I say often, national security is holistic and not just defense spending.
▶ 0:08:37Do Americans have the health care that they need? Are we providing good nutrition to our kids so that they can eventually grow up strong and serve in our armed forces? Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP and the reconciliation bill put the whole of our society at risk. And I believe that this weakens our national security. Also, billionaires can have their tax breaks.
▶ 0:08:58It's also irresponsible for us to assume that you can fund the defense programs through an unstable reconciliation That's why it's never happened before in our nation's history. What else has never happened before was the departments of defense operating under a fullear continuing resolution. The CR was endorsed by President Trump, OM Director Voade, and you, Mr. Secretary.
▶ 0:09:24After enactment of the CR, the department had 45 days to submit a spend plan to Congress. In many cases, it ignored congressional intent. OM has an obligation to get money to the services so that contracts can be executed in a timely fashion. But every defense company from the smallest startup to the largest prime has told me it is going too slow. Time and taxpayers dollars are being wasted.
▶ 0:09:52Our national security is being put at risk because of the lag time. CRs are simply wasteful. But the point of this hearing is the president's fiscal 2026 budget request and we don't have it. It was due in February. Today is June 10th. Four months from now is the end of the fiscal year and all we have is a very rough draft. The DoD has failed to submit a complete request.
▶ 0:10:18So today we are forced to mark up at a rushed and for me an un incomplete defense appropriations act. I don't blame Chairman Cole or Chairman Kell. The fault is squarely on the administration. But just like the CR, this has national security We do not have the critical information, the granular details on the D DoD programs that we need to make in order to be effective and efficient with our decisions.
▶ 0:10:49The president proposes, Congress disposes, and that's how our government works. How can I work with this administration in good faith when we don't have a full blueprint of the president's priorities? For example, Golden Dome at this point is merely a concept. It's not a plan. None of us have been briefed yet on how you intend to spend $175 billion or deliver this program in three short years.
▶ 0:11:17We do not know of priorities like Golden Dome if they do not survive the reconciliation process. What will the department do? You can't come back to this committee and ask us to fill those gaps. Defense spending should never have been included in Mr. Secretary, it's still incumbent upon you to provide us with the real budget request.
▶ 0:11:40It's the only way to finish a fullear bill that will address DoD's complex issues like delays to the Virginia and Colombia class submarine programs, the skyrocketing cost of the Sentinel program, ensuring our F-35 fighters are operational, and taking care of the quality of life issues for our service members and their families that they deserve.
▶ 0:12:02We also must understand the administration's approach to geopolitical concerns like Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine or plans to address the military capabilities of the People's Republic of China or adequately support our future military posture in the Arctic as the polar ice cap continues to melt. We don't know the answers because the administration has not submitted a budget. Mr. Mr. Uh, Secretary, let me close with this.
▶ 0:12:32There's no secret that we have some serious disagreements. The president's decision to call the National Guard troops to Los Angeles was premature, and the decision to deploy active duty Marines as well is downright escalatory. Active duty military has absolutely no role in domestic law enforcement, and they are not trained for those missions. I ask you, Mr. Secretary, and I ask the president, follow the law.
▶ 0:12:58I was also appalled by your decision to fire Chairman Brown, Admiral Franchetti, and other military leaders who served our nation with distinction. You fired them without giving a single reason why. Many Americans, myself included, have witnessed what is a deliberate effort to silence and diminish the achievements of minorities and women in the military. Their dedication, their heroism, their sacrifice on behalf of our nation deserve recognition, not eraser.
▶ 0:13:29As a former history teacher, I know and acknowledge uncomfortable truths about our own history. It is the only way when we recognize them that we move forward together. Since World War II, the department has made great strides in building a military that is more reflective of the population of this That should be celebrated. It should not be reversed. That's how we build a more perfect union. We build it together. But Mr.
▶ 0:13:58Secretary, today I have a job to do. We must provide the resources necessary to make sure our men and women in uniform can accomplish their missions and come home safely. And on that, Mr. Secretary, I'm sure you and I both agree. To do that, we need a budget from you as soon as possible. a complete budget. I look forward to your testimony, Mr. Chairman. I thank you for the courtesy and I yield back. Thank you.
▶ 0:14:25And before we hear from witness, I'd like to recognize the distinguished chairman of the full committee, my good friend, Chairman Tom Cole, for any statement. Thank you very much, Chairman Calbert, Ranking Member McCullum, and always good to be here with my good friend and negotiating partner, the the uh ranking member of the full committee, Miss Delora. Welcome, Secretary Hepk and General Crane, and we thank you for your service to our great nation.
▶ 0:14:48As today marks your first appearance before this subcommittee, I want to reaffirm my commitment to work with you and work to ensure that we have a strong defense. We convene at a time of significant global uncertainty. The threats facing America are diverse and evolving and demand a strong, agile, and effectively funded Department of Defense.
▶ 0:15:10As chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, my primary responsibility is to ensure that taxpayer dollars are allocated wisely and effectively to safeguard our security. First, I want to address the readiness of our armed forces. We must ensure that our troops are fully equipped, trained, and prepared to meet any challenge. I'm particularly interested in the current state of our defense industrial base and the steps being taken to address any identified shortfalls in being able to meet production demands.
▶ 0:15:40Next, I want to address the modernization of our military capabilities. It takes us too long to acquire new weapon systems. Meanwhile, our adversaries are rapidly developing advanced technologies. We must not surrender our technological edge or allow our forces to be underequipped and outgun. I'd like to hear about your plans for Golden Dome, hypersonics, and other programs that are evolving with the constantly changing nature of war.
▶ 0:16:07It's imperative that we invest in technologies that will define the future fight. At the same time, we must remain realistic about development timelines and avoid overcommitting to a single approach at the expense of It's an important or it's important that this subcommittee understands how tradeoffs and risks were approached in this budget. I've been concerned about capability gaps during transitions from one platform to the next.
▶ 0:16:34And while space is the next frontier, I'm hearing more and more that space offers an answer to every problem. While I'm optimistic about space-based capabilities, I certainly think platforms like the E7 offer tremendous capabilities until and frankly beyond when space is fully online. We need diversified capability and support for programs across domains to ensure continued military dominance.
▶ 0:17:01I also want to hear more about the department's efforts to produce a budget that balances uh maintaining a strong defense posture with exercising fiscal responsibility. I'll be seeking assurances that the department's maxifi maximizing efficiency and eliminating wasteful spending. And Mr. Secretary, I look forward to hearing more about what you've done with the efforts undertaken so far. I must say I do agree with my friend Miss McCullum.
▶ 0:17:28need more information than we've gotten uh from OM. That's not your responsibility, but it's in critical for us to be able to make the decisions we're going to have to make. And again, I understand all the complexities of being a new administration. Nobody ever meets the timeline uh when they first come into office and we've gotten a lot of good information from OMB, but the reality is we frankly need more than we've received so far to make the decisions that we're called upon to make.
▶ 0:17:57I want to emphasize the importance of congressional oversight and again I'm committed to working with the Department of Defense to ensure that our national security objectives are met. However, we also have a duty to hold it accountable for its spending and performance. And I think I can speak for almost everyone in this room. No one liked the way the fiscal year 2025 process ended. Again, that's not your fault. That's our fault. uh and there's plenty of uh blame to go around, but it's certainly an experience I don't want to repeat.
▶ 0:18:28I don't want you or your colleagues at Department of Defense to have to operate under a CR again for the coming year. I know the difficulties that places on you. Every member of this committee knows that you've got my commitment. We're going to work hard to avoid that this year, but again, we need some help from all concerned in the process uh to achieve that goal. And almost no one again, as I said, liked the way the process ended. But we owe it to the men and women in uniform to get this right.
▶ 0:18:57It'll require collaboration with the department to inform and produce a product that will meet that goal. I look forward to being your partner uh in that effort. And again, I want to thank you for being here today. And again, I want to uh thank you for your extraordinary service to this country before you assumed this position.
▶ 0:19:16I think that's one of the reasons why we've done as well recruiting is people that are thinking about putting on the uniform of the United States have confidence in you because you've made that decision and you served this country with distinction before you ever came on this post and leading by example is an important thing and I want to thank you for the example you set for men and women to wear the uniform of the United States. With that again, welcome in your first appearance and we look forward to hearing your testimony. I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 0:19:45I'd like to now turn to the ranking member of the full committee, Miss Delaro, for any opening comments. Thank you so much, uh, Chairman Calbat and ranking member McCullum. Uh, and, uh, always to again my dear friend, uh, the chairman of the committee. We've worked together for many years in producing, I believe, uh, bipartisan appropriations bills, and it's our attempt to be able to do that uh, this go round. As well, uh, thank you for holding this oversight hearing on President Trump's Department of Defense.
▶ 0:20:15To our witnesses, Secretary Hegsth, Chairman Kaine, Miss McCd, welcome to the House of Representatives, and thank you for appearing before us today. Defense is the largest portion of our discretionary budget. Yet, you have still not sent this committee a complete budget request. We are in midJune, Mr. Secretary. We are marking up a defense funding bill in a few hours. And yet we have no idea what your department actually needs.
▶ 0:20:45We have no details as to how you want to implement your plans. We should be discussing how you plan to get our submarine programs in order, how the Blackhawk platform will be utilized into the future, and how you plan to improve our service members and their famil family's quality of life.
▶ 0:21:06It is unacceptable for us to move forward with a defense funding bill without this information and it is regrettable that the administration has put us in this position. If we cannot complete this process on time, we risk yet another continuing resolution which is wasteful, inefficient, and detrimental to our military readiness.
▶ 0:21:29Already your methods for funding our nation's defense programs are as unwise as they are You back the first full ever fully year continuing resolution for the Department of Defense. Particularly defense has always been opposed to moving in that direction because of the uncertainty that a continuing resolution.
▶ 0:21:55Now you are relying on a risky and a partisan budget reconciliation process instead of regular appropriations to fund vital The appropriations process is wherein lies the power of the purse according to the US Constitution. However, this is still an essential opportunity for oversight and the Department of Defense under your leadership is in desperate need of it. Your tenure as Secretary has been marked by endless chaos.
▶ 0:22:24Your first day in office, the inspector general, whose job is to investigate waste, fraud, and abuse, was fired. Weeks later, you dismissed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and five other admirals and generals. Your careless sharing of military secrets in a non-secure signal chat, which could have placed American airmen in danger, led to the firing of former national security adviser Waltz.
▶ 0:22:47You have directly fired several of your top adviserss and the ranks of civilian staff have been decimated within key agency posts including the defense health agency and the missile defense agency. Mr. Secretary, of all the cabinet departments, stability at the Department of Defense is the most critical for Americans safety and security. going after waste in defense and an audit among contractors long overdue, as is a fresh look at defense after what we learned in Ukraine.
▶ 0:23:17But that requires thoughtfulness and not rash and reckless purges of leadership and rank and file staff and firings based on political loyalty are an affront to what our Constitution and our military stands for and depends on. Meanwhile, this administration has done seemingly everything possible to alienate America on the world stage and turn our back on our allies, particularly Ukraine.
▶ 0:23:48Our belligerent trade wars and the dismantling of our humanitarian mission all have implications for our national security. Why would anyone trust us or partner with us when we are busy undermining our allies economies and encouraging China to fill the vacuum we are leaving by abandoning our humanitarian uh our humanitarian mission.
▶ 0:24:12The bags of flour that I've seen on foreign soil that say US aid, US product of the United States of America will be gone and instead will be replaced by China or Russia or Iran. Conflicts around the world that President Trump promised he would resolve overnight are only escalating.
▶ 0:24:38While we need to focus and prepare for threats to freedom and democracy worldwide, the Department of Defense is mired in controversy and chaos. The American people expect, deserve, and demand better from their military leadership. And the lawlessness across the government was ended. This administration has unlawfully dismantled agencies and stolen funding across the government to give billionaires a tax break. America's future soldiers are learning in our public schools.
▶ 0:25:06Our future sailors might rely on Medicaid to see a doctor. Our future airmen and women might only have a meal to eat because of SNAP or food stamps. Or they may live in subsidized housing. If tomorrow's service members are worried about are worried today about having their most basic needs met, then they are being held back from their fullest potential. And that weakens our national security. National security is not just mach machines and munitions.
▶ 0:25:36It requires a whole of government approach which is why this administration must provide us an acceptable and complete budget as soon as possible so we can conduct proper oversight and why this administration must cease the lawless stealing of appropriated funds. I thank the chair and ranking member and I look forward to your testimony. I yield back. Thank the gentle lady. We'll now begin with witness testimony. Gentlemen, without objection, your full written testimony will be placed in the record.
▶ 0:26:05Secretary Hexiff, we can start with you for your summary of your remarks. Secretary, recognize. Well, Chairman Calbertt, Ranking Member McCullum, distinguished members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of President Trump's proposed fiscal year 2026 budget for the Department of Defense. I'm honored to testify today alongside General Dan Kaine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Bin McDonald, who is performing the duties of DoD's comproller and chief financial officer.
▶ 0:26:36I'm also proud to represent and serve our warriors and their families today, as they do every day. They are keeping America safe. They're defending the homeland. They're standing up and deterring communist China. and we're working hand and glove with allies and partners to achieve peace through strength. I'd actually like to start by thanking this committee and Congress for your bipartisan leadership to give our troops a big pay raise in 2025.
▶ 0:27:07This included an additional 10.5% raise for our junior enlisted service members E1 to E4. Thank you also for supporting other initiatives that will improve quality of life for our warriors and their families. With a focus on our troops and their loved ones, I've directed additional actions that will further improve their quality of life.
▶ 0:27:29These improve these in include making historic investments in improving the living conditions in barracks and base housing, reforming the PCS process to reduce the cost and stress of moving and improving the quality of care provided by the defense healthcare system. Now, the best part of my job is meeting and interacting with troops and their families. I hear their concerns. I know how it feels to face those challenges. I've been there recently.
▶ 0:27:56Each of these initiatives responds to feedback that I've received from the force, and I'll keep listening and looking for ways to improve their quality of life. Under President Trump's leadership, this budget puts America first and gives our warriors what they need. The 961.6 billion budget request, over 1 trillion for national security, will end four years of chronic underinvestment in our military.
▶ 0:28:23In the last four months, we've moved quickly to reverse course after four years of weakness and mismanagement. We've found nearly $30 billion in savings across the department. And we've reinvested those savings. We've killed wasteful programs, targeted bureaucratic excess, and redirected funding from Biden era priorities to President Trump's priorities. We are reoptimizing the civilian workforce, and repositioning re resources to better support our war fighters.
▶ 0:28:52We're working with the Department of Homeland Security to increase border security. We've reduced China's malign influence in our hemisphere. We've defended freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. However, we still have a lot of work ahead of us to achieve peace through strength. To carry out the president's mission, we have three core priorities, as was mentioned. Restore the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence. First, we're restoring the warrior ethos.
▶ 0:29:20President Trump has charged me with focusing on war fighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness. It's exactly what we're doing. We're focused on what's important, war fighting, and warriors. We're sweeping away distractions and bloated bureaucracy. We've set set standards that are high, equal, and unwavering. DEI is dead. We replaced it with a color-blind, genderneutral, merit-based approach.
▶ 0:29:47Our force is uh is responding, excuse me, positively, incredibly to these changes. And thanks to President Trump, recruiting and retention is higher than it's been in decades at historic numbers. This budget provides a historic level of funding for military readiness, putting our war fighters and their needs first. Second, we're rebuilding our military. 25 years ago, our military was unchallenged.
▶ 0:30:13Yet, we squandered that advantage as China carried out an unprecedented military buildup. President Trump is correcting those mistakes. We're reviving the defense industrial base, reforming our acquisitions process, rapidly fielding emerging technologies to put the best weapons in the hands of our war fighters. This includes investment of 25 billion in the Golden Dome for America, a down payment on President Trump's priority to defend our homeland. It also commits more than 62 billion to modernize and sustain our nuclear forces.
▶ 0:30:44The budget allocates 3.5 billion for the F47, the world's first sixth generation air superiority fighter. This budget will revitalize our ship building industrial base with 6 billion in funding in FY26, 47 billion in ship building total. The budget increases significantly funding for autonomous systems, long range fires, drones, and hypersonics. We will put these capabilities in the hands of our war fighters. Third, we're reestablishing deterrence.
▶ 0:31:15When our opponent sees our welle equipped, tough as nails warriors, they will decide that today is not the day to test American resolve. Credible deterrence starts at home, and it starts with securing our borders. We will achieve 100% operational control of the southern border with crossings already dropped It also starts in our neighborhood in the western hemisphere. As you know, as we've said, the Indoacific is our priority theater and China are facing threat.
▶ 0:31:46That's why I've traveled twice to the Indoacific region to meet with our allies and partners and they have responded. As we shift in that direction, President Trump looks to those allies and partners to step up, to share in the burden of their own He also sees them, as I do, as force multipliers alongside the United States, and we are making progress in that. As the president has rightly pointed out, it's only fair that our allies and partners do their part.
▶ 0:32:14We can't want their security more than they do. So the Department of Defense is executing a common sense agenda to achieve peace through strength. The threats we face are serious and so must our investments be. So what this budget does, it matches capabilities to threats. We must overcome decades of neglect and decline. We must fortify our position as the world's most lethal fighting force. And we must act fast.
▶ 0:32:44This committee is our critical partner in everything we do and your leadership and oversight is essential. So we look forward to accomplishing these goals, to achieving peace through strength, to supporting our warriors, protecting our citizens and taxpayers together with you. May God grant us the wisdom to see what is right and the courage to do it. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. General Kaine, you're now recognized for your remarks.
▶ 0:33:13Thank you, Chair Calbertt, Ranking Member McCullum, other leaders, uh, members of the committee. I'm honored here today to join Secretary Hegsth and Miss Bin McDonald, uh, to appear before you today to testify on the president's fiscal year 2026 budget. Today's hearing reflects our shared commitment to maximize efficiency, accountab account accountability, and lethality to our taxpayers investments.
▶ 0:33:40Ensuring that every expenditure increases the survivability of our joint force, providing our war fighters with the advanced capabilities and capacity and cutting edge technologies required to dominate our adversaries.
▶ 0:33:55I have deep gratitude for everyone in this room and your commitment uh and cooperation to help us deliver the capability and capacity for our 2.8 million members of our joint force, the civilians that serve alongside us and of course their families all required to work together to deliver as the secretary said peace through strength.
▶ 0:34:19It is my responsibility as chairman to understand the global set of conditions, advise the secretary and integrate our joint forces to confront and manage risks worldwide. This demands a comprehensive understanding of all domains, space, cyber, air, sea, undersea, all military services, each region, and at times our allies, partners, of course, as we consider carefully what they bring to the table, uh, and to inform the decisions that
▶ 0:34:49you'll make to give us the finite taxpayer dollars required to ensure the greatest strategic impact with that investment. The president's budget enables the joint force to defend our great nation against adversaries seeking to do us harm.
▶ 0:35:04We are relentless in our pursuit of innovation and technology that allows us to deter our adversaries at every opportunity while ensuring we're positioned to win on the battlefields of the future when called This budget empowers the joint force to get after Secretary Heg says three pillars as he mentioned.
▶ 0:35:25restoring warrior ethos, rebuilding our military, and reestablishing deterrence, and ensures from my perspective the joint force is properly armed, globally integrated, and ready. The president's budget invests in our war fighters. To win on the battlefields of future, as I said, our forces must be properly armed with the right capabilities, lethal, modern, reliable, survivable, and at scale.
▶ 0:35:55Victory requires people and platforms that will overmatch the enemy day after day. Systems that will be required to operate under the harshest of conditions and technologies that will give our war fighters the decisive edge that they deserve. This budget gives us the necessary tools to reinvigorate our national and defense industrial base. Our nation is full of incredible talent and we need to get every bit of it moving in the same direction.
▶ 0:36:24This budget also helps the joint force get globally integrated. I think we're relationship entrepreneurs within the joint force which requires us to work together with the military, our allies and partners, uh, industry, uh, and of course the inter agency to be connected before crisis begins.
▶ 0:36:45Finally, the president's budget reflects our mandate to stay ready, always on the account, anticipating the next fight, not fighting the last fight, and delivering for our force and their families. Our force and our families are the last and most important part of this budget. This budget makes meaningful investments in our service members and their families, improving quality of life, housing, medical care, and the moving process.
▶ 0:37:13Along with our most precious asset, our people uh must be properly armed, integrated, and ready. I also want to highlight the service member over my right shoulder quickly, the the senior enlisted adviser to the chairman who will retire after 37 years, Sergeant Major Troy Black. He didn't know I was going to say this today.
▶ 0:37:32Uh so in conclusion, it's an honor every day to serve so alongside some of the most extraordinary warriors, civilian teammates, and families that our nation has ever known. I assure this committee that the joint force remains committed and capable and ready to defend our nation. With your continued support and prudent investment, we'll maintain that competitive edge at scale.
▶ 0:37:57Um, I want to also remember today our deployed and their families who are out there on the front edge of our of our nation making sure that we're safe here in this committee room today. And I would be remiss as I always try to remember uh to remember our fallen and their families who've made the ultimate sacrifice. I thank the Congress for your support and collaboration. I thank this committee for your efforts and leadership and I look forward to your questions. Thank you.
▶ 0:38:25I want to make sure that each member has a chance to ask questions so everybody will have five minutes for the remarks and answers. Remember when the when the little light comes on it's yellow. You got one minute left. So, I'll begin by recognizing myself for five minutes. Uh, Mr. Secretary, the department recently issued a memo reducing the civilian personnel at the Office of Director of Operational Test and Evaluation by about 74% and reduce the budget by 80%.
▶ 0:38:54Now, everyone on this subcommittee can attest that I've been beating the drum for reductions in DoD personnel, civilian personnel, uh, since I became a member of the committee for that's a long time. In fact, I have a bill that would require the department to reduce civilian staff by 15% based on merit. However, I think we need to be intentional and cleareyed about the functions that we reduce.
▶ 0:39:17As you know, DOT& was established by Congress in 83 to centralize and strengthen operational testing, ensure that weapon systems are rigorously evaluated for combat effectiveness, suitability, and to address deficiencies in oversight and standardization within the Department of Defense. There's a lot of examples of DTON catching flaws that would have catastrophic consequences for our military including loss of life.
▶ 0:39:43I one example is the M2M3 Bradley which was designed to transport troops provides fire support. The army approved a system touting the armor firepower and mobility. However, when the independent testing was done, it was found out the aluminum armor uh was not a good idea and was susceptible to uh uh to failure and early versions caught fire and and burned.
▶ 0:40:07And so obviously we made changes and rectified that and the Bradley's been a valuable part of our military ever since. But uh we share the same goals to create a more efficient, leaner DoD. But with things like Golden Dome coming along, uh we want to make sure that the the technologies we pick are going to work and that we fund them accordingly. So I understand the reduction is seeking to remove duplicative functions. We're not interested in delays and I know that that's pretty high on your list.
▶ 0:40:37However, u a layer of independent testing is I think important in light of that with the reduction. And how will you ensure that the military services tasked with testing evaluating their own programs will not revert to past behavior which showed they would approve systems in order to meet operational needs or budget timelines. So uh with that Mr. Secretary see if we can have an answer to that. Well Mr. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the question.
▶ 0:41:01Uh, and it how we evaluated DOT& uh was a reflection of the overall approach we take in the department, which is how efficiently do we operate? Where are the bottlenecks? We talk about the things you talk about every single day. How do we get hands in how do we get systems, platforms, future capabilities in the hands of war fighters as quickly as possible?
▶ 0:41:22And so a review led by myself, the the deputy secretary of defense, our friends at Doge who who've worked with us have helped us look and identify places where we might find efficiencies. Now I work and my hands are directly in the middle of that to ensure that as we seek those efficiencies and reduce those redundancies, we're not doing so in a way that undermines our capabilities or or safety for water fighters in the future.
▶ 0:41:46DOT& after we got rid of a lot of the really lowhanging fruit of tens of billions of contracts and things that we've reduced uh that were duplicative uh that were completely wasteful that were creating PowerPoint presentations that no one was looking at.
▶ 0:42:02You start to look at things like DOT& testing and evaluation which in a headline sounds quite significant and it can be in many ways but when you ask the services you ask the joint staff you talk to the comp patroller and cape and you go across the other under secretaries there's a universal recognition that DOT's mission has bloated and expanded well beyond the scope of what it was supposed to be and as a result was was expanding by months and sometimes even more than that the amount of time it was taking for systems to actually make
▶ 0:42:32it in the hands of war fighters. So you still have services in other places doing that testing and evaluation. This remains in place at a right size. We see it as a right sizing of DOT&. So it still provides that oversight uh and ensures across the joint force we're recognizing the challenges but it doesn't add unnecessary time. So we recognize why it was created. Uh we want it to do its job but not more than its job. And that's what we believe it's doing by reforming Well, thank you for that answer.
▶ 0:43:01U obviously as we expect new systems, new technologies to come online quickly. We want to make sure this this committee uh that we're we're funding it properly and and make sure that you can handle the volume in which you're anticipating especially with a new technology like Golden Dome which you know we still is a as the ranking member pointed out we still haven't seen a clear definition of what it is and what it's a strategic
▶ 0:43:31theater system lower 48 Hawaii Alaska the rest of and how these uh layered systems are going to be um put out there to defend defend the country and to make sure that we're not spending a lot of money unnecessarily. So testing and evaluation is going to be an important part of that. Uh with that I recognize Miss Thank you Mr. Chair. Mr.
▶ 0:43:59Secretary, I plan to ask you some budget questions about the following the cost of the the Qatar plane where the money um the Army's parade is coming from or the National Guard deployments to the border where that funding is coming from. I I I honor and celebrate the United States Army, but I'd like to know how much this parade is going to cost. I have sent the department letters on on several occasions on this and I'm still waiting for a response.
▶ 0:44:26But then something else happened this weekend and it needs to be addressed and that is the president's premature and escalatory decision to deploy not only the National Guard troops to Los Angeles but active duty Marines as well. Mr. Secretary, we're both from Minnesota. I was in the Twin Cities during the riots that followed the murder of George Floyd. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets for days. Governor Walls made the decision to call up the Minnesota National Guard.
▶ 0:44:54At no point did we need uh the citizens of Minnesota request that the Marines be deployed. Our state and local law enforcement along with our National Guard who have worked on crowd control, they were more than enough. They were more than capable of handling this situation. History has proven that law enforcement and the National Guard are more than capable of handling situations more volatile than what happened this weekend.
▶ 0:45:22We all see the continuous loops on TV, but this looks nothing like the George Floyd protests or the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles in 1992. Mr. Secretary, this is a deeply unfair position to put our Marines in. Their service should be honored. It should not be exploited. The president has issued an executive order and talked about deploying troops across the country.
▶ 0:45:45Los Angeles County has 17,000 law enforcement personnel and the state of California has 24,000 National Guard troops. So that's why the Los Angeles chief police to say and I quote, "The possible arrival of federal military forces in Los Angeles is an absent a clear coordination presents a significant logistical operational challenge for those of us who are charged with safeguarding the city." the end of his quote.
▶ 0:46:14As I mentioned before, in Minnesota, we train for those things together. So, there's no need for the Marines to be deployed. So, here are my budget questions, though. is the current cost for what is taking place in California? And how is it going to affect this budget or the budget we're currently serving under? How much are these deployments going to cost for both the Marines and the National Guard?
▶ 0:46:46And what or duties are not taking place because of these deployments? Where in your limited budget, sir, are you going to find in the remainder of this f fiscal year are you going to pull the money to cover these deployments? What holes are being Well, Congresswoman, thank you for the question. Uh, you are right. We are both originally from Minnesota.
▶ 0:47:12Uh, which is why I recall 2020 quite well when Governor Walsh abandoned a police precinct and allowed it to be burned to the ground. Uh, and also allowed 5 days of chaos to occur inside the streets of The police precinct, ma'am, was abandoned and burned to the ground. And because of that, the National Guard was eventually far too late mobilized.
▶ 0:47:37And President Trump recognizes a situation like that improperly handered by a governor like it was by Governor Waltz if it gets out of control is a bad situation for the citizens of any location. So in Los Angeles, we believe that ICE, which is a federal law enforcement agency, has the right to safely conduct operations in any state and any jurisdiction in the country, especially after 21 million illegals have crossed our border under the previous administration.
▶ 0:48:07ICE ought be able to do its job whether it's Minneapolis or Los Angeles. Limited time. I asked a budget. Could the secretary please address the budget? Thank you. You asked about the situation in Los Angeles and we believe ICE agents should be allowed to be safe and doing their operations and we have deployed National Guard and the Marines to protect them in the execution of their duties because we ought be able to enforce immigration immigration law in this country unlike what Governor Waltz did in 2020.
▶ 0:48:36Uh there are 17,000 LAPD. You mentioned that there would be 8 18,000 if not for the defund movement that folks like Gavin Newsome and Karen Bass have implemented. The police chief said she was overwhelmed not to ask the budgetary questions. I will yield back my time if the secretary refuses to answer the budgetary questions I put before him. They're important. What training missions aren't happening? Where are you pulling the money from? And how are you planning this in the moving forward?
▶ 0:49:06These are budget questions that affect this committee and the decisions we're going to be making in a couple of hours. If you're not going to answer them, please let the chairman know and I will res I will take back my time and I will yield it back to the Mr. Secretary. I want to just let us know what accounts you're pulling the money to to fund. Thankfully, unlike the previous administration, we've got a 13% increase in our defense budget and we will have the capability to cover down on contingencies, which is something the National Guard and the Marine planned for.
▶ 0:49:32So we have the funding to cover down on contingencies, especially ones as important as maintaining law and order in a major American city. As far as training, all of the units on the ground have been fully trained in their capabilities of what they're executing on the ground for budgetary if he needs to get back to the committee with the numbers. I'd appreciate it both current and present. I'm happy to submit them for the record. Gentleman will will receive an answer to the question for the record. Gentleman from Oklahoma, Mr. Cole. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Uh Mr. Secretary again, welcome.
▶ 0:50:02As I mentioned in my opening comments, I'm very concerned about retiring legacy systems. They need to be retired. No problem there. But doing it too fast and not having replacements coming online. I've got a particular concern where E3s, as my colleagues know, Awax are there's 31 of them in the fleet, or there were 15 have been retired since 23.
▶ 0:50:26They fly out of Tinker Air Force Base for the most part, which is in my district, hence my parochial, but I think legitimate interest here. Very interested in seeing uh and this committee's done some important work in positioning us to acquire and and field E7s. It's not a new technology. Our friends in Australia use it. Our friends in the United Kingdom use it. It's much superior to what we have.
▶ 0:50:52Uh and so um again this is one of the areas where we're concerned where we don't have the budget information from OM we'd like. I'm so I'm curious about what your thoughts are on the platform and replacing them. You have any idea about the speed and costs that you're planning to move in that particular area going forward? Well, I appreciate the question, Mr. Chairman. uh and priorities and decisions are what we're in the business of on on the budget side, on the capabilities side.
▶ 0:51:22And I think President Trump has charged us with making the big difficult decisions after a lot of deferred maintenance and deferred decisions to ignore parochial um priorities in large part and focus on what the department needs and where it needs it and when it needs it.
▶ 0:51:40And that that means some tough calls and there are platforms we've supported as a result and there's some platforms and systems that we won't support uh going forward because the services have requested it or we've identified those are systems and platforms that don't orient toward a future threat. I mean we've learned a lot of thing lot lot from what happened in Ukraine. We've learned a lot from what China is attempting to do and the systems they're building.
▶ 0:52:04So if we have systems and platforms that are not survivable in the modern battlefield or they don't give us an advantage in a future fight, we have to make the tough decisions right now. That's my job. That's the chairman's job and it's our job to fund those new systems and make tough calls. So the the E7 is an example of that.
▶ 0:52:22Um, we're going to exit, we're going to fund existing platforms that are there more robustly and make sure they're modernized, but we believe most of the ISR or a great deal of the ISR in the future will be space-based and not in a scientific space base. We hope we'll get there, but in a we're funding capabilities that will surpass some of those airborne capabilities.
▶ 0:52:42So, we're willing to continue to review things like the E7, but from our view, investments in existing systems that carry forward that capability alongside even bigger investments in space-based ISR gives us the kind of advantages we need on a future battlefield. I think I think that's a fair point. I point out, I've been on this committee a long time.
▶ 0:53:04I watched the US Army waste 29 billion dollars on the future combat system because it was going to be so great and it didn't and we wasted a ton of money. We got a platform here that works. Space is great. It's unknown. It's undeveloped and I would just urge you to uh look at this pretty carefully as you make the decision. We certainly will as a committee. Um I don't know how much time I've got left because the clock's not running. I did. You're the chairman.
▶ 0:53:33So, well, that that's Well, I I I will I will try and be respectful to the committee and certainly respectful to our witnesses. I have one other quick question if I may. Um, and I think probably a lot of members have had these concerns.
▶ 0:53:52Look, I'm I'm uh largely very much in favor of the hiring freezes and some of the things you've done personnel-wise, so this is not a criticism, but I do hear that we have certain exempt positions like aircraft mechanics, like firefighters. We're having a problem with that. Again, Fort Sil, the home and the field artillery and air defense artillery as well. It's a pretty military district. U nobody's being critical, but we're having a hard time getting these are exempt categories, those filled.
▶ 0:54:21Can you sort of tell me where we're at on that because these are missionritical people? Uh it's a great question, sir. It's something we're paying very close attention to. In fact, we we meet on it uh multiple times a week. Uh it includes ship building cap capabilities, uh childcare centers. Uh there are a lot of positions that affect our industrial base, our capabilities, or our families that we are working uh diligently to ensure we're getting those exceptions as quickly as possible, those waiverss.
▶ 0:54:50Uh but we're also trying to do right by right sizing the civilian force which has gotten too bloated too fast and has mostly been right sized through voluntary uh separations through DRP. U so I I I acknowledge that and we can get you a full list of the exemptions as well to make sure you understand why where the where we're making trade-offs. I'd appreciate that very much, Mr. Secretary. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yel back. Thanks for your courtesy. Thanks, gentlemen. Mr. Laura, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to focus, Mr. Secretary.
▶ 0:55:18Uh my question on uh uh submarines and our national security, our our military ship building and as I said specifically uh submarines critical investment for national security and for the economy of my home state of Connecticut. This is a yes or no question. Mr. Secretary, do you agree that continued investment in the Department of Defense in submarine production is in fact critical to the United States national security and military readiness? Very critical. Okay.
▶ 0:55:47So yes, thank you and we agree. Uh they'll be continue to be a critical asset to deter adversaries, sustain the advantage we have in undersea domain. Uh and the defense department should continue to support these programs. What is the status of the department's investments in submarine programs? Uh 14% increase in FY26 on the Colombia and uh a substantial increase in the Virginia as well.
▶ 0:56:13So we're we're ensuring a defense a submarine industrial base that has been left behind that has been neglected is is fully invested on funding the submarines. We more than half and you can go back to last December but I want to move on. Do you know where our submarine production currently stands and whether current production is sufficient to bridge the gap between current fleet size and projected need. There is a gap but we believe we are closing it ma'am.
▶ 0:56:43Yes. And if you can get to us the information about how in fact that you can close that gap because we do not have uh any information or data uh of of for that can substantiate what you're saying. Uh your your department's initial budget proposal includes incremental funding for the Colombia class submarine.
▶ 0:57:08Uh, is that going to raise alarm bells across the defense industrial base by signaling a lack of commitment to the program? No, we could not, ma'am. We could not be more uh committed to Colombia. Uh, the centrality in the triad, ensuring it delivers on time. Uh, it's central to the deterrent and the base of of the United States. Do you know how much of a financial hole this will create for the defense industrial base? Will there be a financial hole for the defense industrial base in 2026?
▶ 0:57:39Certainly not. Based on our projections, there's there is not a hole. We're investing in Colombia robust. Okay. With without numbers, it's my understanding the department is planning to move $3.1 billion for the Colombia class from 2026 and spread it over 2027 and 2028. This creates a serious problem for industry in the short term and hampers ship builders ability to reach an adequate production rate.
▶ 0:58:06Have you been in contact with Electric Boat or with Huntington Les about your plans? Uh almost every day our deputy secretary of defense is alongside our secretary of the navy are actively engaged with all of our ship builders and shipyards to make sure their needs not only are being met but their shortfalls are being addressed so that we can in close that gap in real time which has existed so that you can you can um u lay out for us uh the information uh and which we would like
▶ 0:58:36to get this committee needs to take a look at uh because I I know you believe that submarines are important as I do. Uh but getting the specific information about where we stand, what the production rate is, what gaps there may be, where we're willing to listen to all of that because in fact, in contrast to what your earlier statement was, we have in fact supported mightily the submarine industrial base from this
▶ 0:59:06committee that has not been neglected. Um, do you have a plan for making the investments necessary to ramp up submarine production to the necessary um, elections? Give me I would just tell you as part of the December continuing resolution, Congress included $5.7 billion for the department to put out to put on contract for two additional block 4 and one block five Virginia class submarines.
▶ 0:59:33The Navy advised members that these funds were required to be placed on contract by February of 2025. Yet, the department did not put funding for the two additional block four boats on contract until April 30th. So, do we have a plan? Do you have a plan for making the necessary investments uh to ramp up submarine production to the necessary levels? And what is that plan?
▶ 0:59:59Ma'am, first of all, I want to thank this committee for the flexibility alongside uh FY25 and the continued resolution. I would hope you would thank this committee for the funding provided on submarine industry. We have made a serious investment. So your first statement is inaccurate.
▶ 1:00:16We have focused squarely on submarines and we're now want to know where that is going and what your plan is uh for the continued advancements to meet production levels and uh make sure that that is an area that's covered for our national security. Ma'am, I fully acknowledge the investment this committee has made in ship building and the challenge is our department under the previous administration squandered a lot of that by Please. I I don't I want I want your plan.
▶ 1:00:43I I I I've had I I've had difficulties with the prior administration and I I don't mind calling them out. What is your plan for the future? Can we get that in writing and on paper so that we know where you're going? Because we don't have anything today. We have zip nada and knowing where you're going. You could talk percentages. You can talk about whatever you want, but unless this committee sees dollars and cents and where you're going and what your plan is, then we may reconsider what you need to do to go forward. Give us the details, Congresswoman.
▶ 1:01:13We have the details and we will provide then let's have them before we and my hope is that we could get to it before we go to a markup within a few hours here today. I yield back my time, Mr. Chair. Gentle lady yields back her time. the dean of the house, Chairman Rogers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome, gentlemen, lady.
▶ 1:01:37Um, let me ask you about the stunning of the Ukrainian of of last week. Are we seeing the ushering in of a new era of warfare? The use of drones from afar.
▶ 1:02:00After all, uh these drones were smuggled into Russia, hidden for a great span of time, and then activated from 2500 miles away. Are we prepared both defensively and offensively? Mr. Secretary, I'll answer that and then maybe hand it to the chairman.
▶ 1:02:26Uh I would say sir it was a a daring and very effective operation that we were not aware of in advance and reflects significant advancements in drone warfare which we are tracking in real time inside Ukraine and taking that feedback to help us better understand how we can uh better produce more lethal attritable drones but also advance our counter UAS systems so that we're not vulnerable to a threat and an attack like that the
▶ 1:02:57chairman and I got together right after seeing that and saying what more can we do to ensure we're prepared and our pl our country's defensible against something like that. But I'll hand to the chairman. Mr. Secretary, Congressman, thank thank you for the question. I I think it goes to your more strategic question about is the way and nature that we're fighting our wars changing. Sir, the answer is likely yes.
▶ 1:03:20mass numbers of of rounds moving back and forth with precision and autonomy uh are all things that are uh advancing in the technology trend exponentially. One of the things that I've talked with some of the leaders of this community and uh committee about are uh buying capabilities uh along the technology curve uh or ahead of it.
▶ 1:03:44And so I I do think it was a a bold move and it it represents a new and and different way of fighting wars as we've seen over the past few years in that particular fight. Sir, what do we need to do to protect ourselves from a similar type raid by an adversary? Well, sir, u intelligence is critical. uh human intelligence, signals, intelligence, every aspect of how we get ahead, get to the left of a problem like that.
▶ 1:04:14Um and our certainly our department in conjunction inter agency are focused on that. But then it's rapidly fielding the commercially available technologies in some cases but others proprietary uh whether they're uh EW whether they're microwave whether they're uh kinetic to defeat drones either individually or in swarms in multiple locations against you know protecting our people protecting our installations protecting our critical infrastructure protecting
▶ 1:04:44our bombers. Um, and some of that speaks to Golden Dome and what we'll do there. But you also have the particulars of the immediate, our forward deployed troops, are they properly covered by counter UAS systems? Do we have uh the best systems forward deployed? Uh, and that's something we're looking at every single day. We live in a dynamic operating environment and we're we are it is uh the chairman can knows this, the deputy, every our policy shop, we are focused on ensuring that this is front and center considering how central this threat will be going forward.
▶ 1:05:15Well, these are lowcost, high techch weapons, if you will, uh, and has been dominated by China. 90% of drones are produced by China, I'm What does that tell us about what we need to do here at home?
▶ 1:05:39Well, sir, it's not just first of all making sure we're less reliant on Chinese technology and any part of the supply chain, which is something we can speak to because that's been an aggressive part of our effort at DoD, but also recognizing it's not just China, of course, Iran invests substantially in uh in drone capabilities and then learning a lot from partners on our side like the Ukrainians who have developed systems uh and fielding that quickly. So, commercially available, attritable um that we can produce at home is important to us.
▶ 1:06:09Congratulations to all three of you and we wish you well. Yield back. Thank you, sir. Thank the gentleman for question. Real quickly, is it is the press stories accurate that 40% of the long range bombers from Russia were destroyed in that attack. Is that is that an accurate So, I'm not exactly sure what the percentage is, but I also know that I may not say that in open session.
▶ 1:06:35So, uh um I'll take that and get back to you through appropriate channels. Thanks, gentlemen. Uh Miss Captor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We welcome our guests. I come from a family of combat veterans going back a long time. And um my comment is the um use of certain words and what they imply. When I hear warrior ethos, and I hear it a lot from you, Mr.
▶ 1:07:02Secretary, I'm concerned all the soldiers in our family, all of whom fought and received medals for their combat service, call themselves Marines are trained to kill. In terms of domestic policing, our police and our national guard at the state level carefully used, but also our state police are used in civil enforcement and they are good.
▶ 1:07:32I don't need any reply. I just am concerned about what those words you often utter do in people's minds and change the language we have used since the founding of this republic. So I just that is a concern of mine. I wanted to uh go to the uh general and chairman if I could. We've heard a lot this morning about defense industrial base and uh this is something I ran for office on a long time ago.
▶ 1:08:03We have not made significant progress as a country in this regard and the places that made things whether they were machine tools whether it was composite materials were left behind. It's one of the reasons for the division in our society.
▶ 1:08:19So I am very interested in knowing uh what specifically and in which accounts and I hope you can get this back to us within a week and a half um you are going to focus on in order to inject additional resources in the defense industrial base of this country. What will that look like? We are just successful now in helping steel to revive and some of our composite metals.
▶ 1:08:4740 years ago I wrote a a title to the defense bill dealing with strategic metals. Nobody at Department of Defense cared. Okay. So I'm interested in which accounts if you could kindly get back to me on that and um what when you say defense industrial base budget-wise in which accounts what does that mean? All right. I don't expect you to answer it now. Can you tell me when you might get that information back to us?
▶ 1:09:12Well, ma'am, you you just said a week and a half, so I know the awesome humans behind me are scribbling madly to uh come back to that. Can I can I just make a quick comment? You know, I I happen to be a lucky guy that served in the private sector for a while and I ran a a machine shop in Texas along with a metal finishing business. So when we talk about defense industrial base, I broaden that out to really the national industrial base.
▶ 1:09:37There are certain components that are made in the defense side, but as you articulate, ma'am, many others are made in the small machine shops out around this entire nation. When I talk about mobilizing our nation, I think of that national, not just defense industrial base. What do we have to do to create create greater capacity all the way down the chain to include jobs at the local level for those people that build quality parts and deliver on time with shorter lead time and lower cost?
▶ 1:10:06And so I have great empathy for what you're talking about and we'll get back to you just as soon as we can. Yes. And and General and um uh Secretary uh going back to the drone attack in in Ukraine um a country that was invaded by the Russian dictatorship uh starting in 2014. They've been at war for a decade, more than a decade. What they've done with drones is astounding. It's going to change warfare.
▶ 1:10:35One of my questions is, what are you doing to establish relations with Ukraine and not turn your back on them as an administration and help them win? Help liberty win. This has implications way beyond the boundaries of Ukraine. Russia's got 11 time zones. I mean, this is the most important test of liberty for our NATO alliance in my lifetime, and we better help win. And that involves moving forward faster on drone technology.
▶ 1:11:05I'm very worried about our air bases where we have secure assets. Mr. Secretary, can we defend them today if they were to have a similar attack? We're certainly very focused on that, ma'am. Um, and we're learning every day from Ukraine. Uh, I think we would need to clarify what win means. This president is committed to peace. is committed to stopping the killing and he was not in office when it started in 2014.
▶ 1:11:34There were no additional incursions in his first term and then under the previous administration, Vladimir Putin sought to take Ukraine. We're committed, this administration's committed to peace, to stopping the killing and we think that serves Did you just leave Ukraine, Mr. Secretary? Did you just leave Ukraine? Late time's expired, but if you can get back to us on that. Have you visited Ukraine? No, ma'am. My first trip there, sir. was 1973. I yield back has expired. Uh Mr.
▶ 1:12:04Carter, you're recognized for five minutes. For your service to our country, we're very proud of you. I'm fully supportive of the army's outgoing modernization efforts and the recent army transformation initiative that combine the army's army's future command with trade to become the transformational and training command.
▶ 1:12:33How are you both going to create a partnership between the assistant secretary of the army for acquisition, logistics and technology and this new command to ensure the acquisition authorities are modernized and synchronized to achieve the maximum lethality and deterrence. I'll take that maybe I'll hand it to Mr. Chairman as well.
▶ 1:12:58Um I we are very encouraged and supportive of the army's uh transformation initiative. Uh General George has been critical to that as has the secretary of the army Dan Driscoll. And together it's a been a heck of a partnership and a willingness to get at the core issues facing today's army and ensuring it is uh reformed and modernized to meet the threats of the future. One of that is one of those aspects is merging those commands.
▶ 1:13:24And I can tell you uh whether it's the warrior ethos or lethality that is central to why we make decisions. Ensuring that we're not making decisions on behalf of bureaucrats or process uh but to ensure we're getting the most uh lethal aspects of what we do front and forward as quickly as possible. And that involves things like futures command and trade do.
▶ 1:13:48And when you merge those those things, you have to make sure you're you're getting rid of things that are redundant and and pushing forward things that matter the most. But I'll defer to the chairman. Well, I I share that commitment completely. This uh and and I share this transformation. What do you see as the fundamental capabilities of this command must develop to ensure that we have the lethality and deterrence necessary to succeed in Indoaccom?
▶ 1:14:17Uh we've got that's where the future is. Sir, I'll I'll first uh echo the secretary's um respect and appreciation for Secretary Driscoll and General George. Uh they are a team and uh that's always great to see from a war fighter perspective when you have such a nested uh combat pair, if you will, that are driving at the same set of objectives.
▶ 1:14:44I think there's clarity, congressman, in the minds of both the secretary and the chief on the need for things like long range fires in the Pacific. Um, and in order to pay for those, they're making those difficult decisions uh down the army transformation initiative in order to pay for them.
▶ 1:15:02Well, when we started talking about the futures command, one of the things that I was hoping we would do is we would not get a project stacked up on somebody's desk and a stack that high and when you got down to checking on that, oh, that goes to you and it goes on top of another on the bottom of another stack that high. And so we get delayed and delayed and delayed and delayed in certain areas of bureaucracy.
▶ 1:15:31I think that is a is dangerous for our country as we look forward in in and that's why I asked the question. Another issue that's very important the department has historically relied on outdated production techniques of energ energetic manufacturing which may have remained unchanged since the civil this the second world war.
▶ 1:15:57How is the department ensuring that investment in next generation energetics manufacturing such as AI, machine learning capabilities and enabling uh and assurance of assure quality assurance, robotic driven load assembly and pack and automated formation processes.
▶ 1:16:21a prioritize and transitioned out research and development that is capable of producing p these pathways. In other words, a modern way to to load and and turn out ammunition in the simplest terms.
▶ 1:16:38Um there we're we're robustly funding things like DIU, like SCO, like the office of strategic capital to ensure that um commercially available options uh other companies are able to compete that traditionally are not involved in procurement at the defense department. Um so that the valley of death is is eliminated and you're able to bring in actual competition and dynamic solutions. In otherwise, ammunition is a great example. It's very antiquated in many cases.
▶ 1:17:08We're still making rounds the way we made them after World War II. You have to project out what you want to make, send that signal to industry, and then allowed innovators to enter that space so they can bring new technology and rapidly field those new technologies. Uh otherwise, you're stuck doing it the same way you've always done Sir, I was going to add some, but I'll hold off if uh if you're going to roll. You can get a written response to the gentleman from Texas on that.
▶ 1:17:35that's a concern to all of ours is to modernize our manufacturing capability before we can get back manufacturing to the United States. That Mr. Quayar, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Secretary, and all three of you are welcome and thank you for your service. I uh represent an area from uh San Antonio all the way to Larredo, the border. Uh in San Antonio, we got Joint Base San Antonio, the largest joint base in the Department of Defense that contributes over 151 billion dollars to the Texas economy.
▶ 1:18:05We uh support uh 266 mission partners. Uh San Antonio also has the second largest cyber footprint in the nation hosting the 16 air force um cyber uh and then of course the military facilities that are the best in San and uh in the country also.
▶ 1:18:25Um along with that going down to Laredo, the largest port in the country, ninth largest in the world after eight Chinese ports, uh number nine in the world is Laredo. Um and my question, uh Mr. Secretary, has to do with um one of your plans and ask you to, you know, welcome you to San Antonio. Let the San Antonio folks come in. It has to do with Army, US Army North and US Army South.
▶ 1:18:53I'm not going to go with their missions of critical mission, but what concerns us in San Antonio, both the Democrats and Republican members of Congress and senators, we're concerned that, you know, in setting up a Western Hemisphere command, which I think it's a good idea that you move it away from a place like San Antonio, uh, where, you know, we have the infrastructure, the personnel, the community partnerships to, uh, to work with you on this.
▶ 1:19:21And I say this because I think your testimony has about uh uh about 11,900 troops that are down there working with the homeland uh which I support. Um, and keeping in mind what's happening with the cartels in Mexico and other places, I would ask you to, you know, when you look at this western hemisphere command that you don't move it 1500 miles away from the border, uh, especially in a place like San Antonio, I think our Texas I think
▶ 1:19:51we got a few Texans here that can talk about the rest of the state of Texas and some wannabe Texans also that can talk about uh, what the facilities we have. But I would ask you uh to as you consider this uh to keep the um the you know command uh western hemisphere of command in San Antonio. Well sir count me amongst some of the wannabe Texans.
▶ 1:20:18Uh Tennessee is close enough. We got no state income tax. Keep that true. Uh I appreciate that concern. Uh it is something that has come up multiple times in conversations with Secretary Driscoll and General George in reviewing uh their Army modernization plan and consolidation with a recognition that some of those changes when we go through a posture review and as we're looking at commands uh are going to include some tough choices.
▶ 1:20:46Some of that includes ranks and positioning u but you still are going to have at some level a south and north bifurcation. The question is uh where that is headquartered and we are we are in an ongoing review on that uh of exactly where that will shake out but I would encourage continue deliberation with Secretary Driscoll.
▶ 1:21:04they have been thoughtful about it and will continue to be and I understand uh that um uh there's decisions that have to be made the efficiencies and all that but just ask you as you look at that if we're doing so much investment on the border we already got the infrastructure down there in San Antonio and all the support from the other military bases across the state of Texas and the the partnership I would ask you and and the secretary to you know to Please
▶ 1:21:35uh before you make a decision, go, you know, go drink the water, you know, go, you know, feel what we have in San Antonio and the surrounding areas in in Texas to consider that instead of just making a decision by uh the paper uh on that.
▶ 1:21:51uh and certainly ask you to consider also the um the second largest footprint that we have at cyber there in San Antonio and uh working with a top cyber uh university UTSA there and of course the uh military facilities that we have which are in the best uh and certainly during the Afghan Afghanistan and Iraq war that area was looked so I just ask that before any decisions were made you know consider making a trip to San Antonio uh
▶ 1:22:21and uh have your folks understand. I know some of y'all have been in uh in Texas before and would ask you to look at that. So with that, Mr. Secretary and all of y'all, thank you for your service. Well noted, sir, and thank you for uh your contributions to securing the border, which has been a huge priority for President Trump. We're we're going to get 100% operational control. It's because of support from folks like you. Thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. Uh Chairman Wack. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 1:22:49chairman and uh my thanks to the um to to our witnesses here today. Secretary Hexa, General Kaine, thank you from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of this committee for your service uh to our nation. Obviously, we face a number of challenges and facing threats across the globe in all domains and we have to ensure that the joint force is ready to fight and win our nation's wars. So, let me begin with General Kaine.
▶ 1:23:19What risks do the recent force structure changes or proposals in the Army and Marine Corps present uh to the to the joint force given your global force integration responsibility? Can you speak to that for a minute? Yes, sir. Um and I'll be mindful of the the environment that we're in and and speak broadly and and thank you for the question.
▶ 1:23:42Um, you know, we we are having to make some difficult choices to pivot some of the combat capability that we have now to the combat capability that we need in the future. both services uh alongside the Department of the Navy uh and the Department of the Army are making those those changes to in order to provide us with the combat capability and capacity that we need at scale to create the dilemmas that we have to deliver for the joint force
▶ 1:24:13and our adversaries. So at at this point um you know we're we're doing the right pivots congressman to make sure that we have the right depth that we need. Secretary Hexith um both of you understand the unique value proposition that the National Guard provides the joint force having served and gosh for a long time it was just me and Hal Rogers up here as u as the guard guys.
▶ 1:24:41Uh so it's good to have some company as we're looking u to be efficient with federal dollars. I always kind of believe that the guard and the reserve component structure in general uh brought what I called value to the force that I I realize it's it's probably not at the same level of proficiency uh that the active duty counterparts might have, but they bring value to the force.
▶ 1:25:06And when we need to surge responsibly uh and quickly then uh the garden reserve are certainly at the ready to do that. My question is pretty simple. Can you both commit to ensuring that the National Guard component is resourced and equipped properly to meet not only today's operational demands but those in the future?
▶ 1:25:30And I asked this question uh having had experience back in the in the day when the National Guard was more or less uh a reserve force. Uh and it was only after 9/11 that we began to use the National Guard in a truly operational form. And I thought it did a lot of great things for the Guard. I thought it brought value to the force.
▶ 1:25:54Uh and I worry sometimes that we may, you know, pivot back to the to the time when the National Guard is relegated to more of a reserve structure uh rather than uh able to to surge with our forces in the in a moment's need and and be able to deliver uh combat capability and and combat service support capability when needed. Can you speak to that, Secretary? Sir, I think it's an excellent point. It does. The National Guard and Reserves bring great value.
▶ 1:26:24Not to mention the civilian skills, the additive civilian skills that they bring. Uh completely recognize the shift that happened after 911. I was a part of that as were many people in the Guard of our generation. I think we're entering an even another phase especially under President Trump with his focus on the homeland where the National Guard and reserves become a critical component of how we secure that homeland and apply those civilian sets across the spectrum.
▶ 1:26:49So when you're looking at say the army for example what we're what we need in the active army visav the national guard will not be a reflection of what we need or don't need. It will be a right sizing of where that where that particular application would be best used and and the na national guard is a is a huge component of of how we see the future. Sir General sir I'll uh um uh you know the policy makers tell us what size our force should be.
▶ 1:27:18But I will commit to you uh and by the way thank you both for your service in the guard as a as a fellow guardsman. You're you're legendary in those those hallways. Um what I will commit to you is that I'll make sure that the voice of the guard is heard at the policy level pursuant to my job as a I yield. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman. Mr. Casease. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 1:27:45Secretary um at the Shanganger dialogue uh in your speech of May 31st you stated and I quote here in the Indoacific our futures are bound together. The prosperity and security of the Indopacific are linked to those of your people. You went on to talk about the benefits from the quote peace and stability that comes with a lasting and strong American presence here in the Indoacific. End quote.
▶ 1:28:10Do you believe um that the only way to achieve our contributions to peace and security and stability in the Indoacific is through military strength alone? Sir, uh certainly not through military strength alone, although military strength is the business that we're in. So we're building partnerships across milltomill um whether it's the Philippines, Japan, Australia more actively than any other part of the world because the application of American strength is not America alone.
▶ 1:28:40It's by with and through partners who share mutual objectives. And so we're very invested in military to military relations. So you as a secretary of defense believe that we need to take a broader approach in the projection of national power, national influence than simply our military. Is that correct? Well sir, that's not my job. My job is the military application. So others will determine the broader spectrum of that, but it's always useful to have other applications of power as well.
▶ 1:29:08But how others actually do that does impact your job in running our military, right? I mean, your military operations, your military presence, your mil-to-mill relationships that I agree are important are all going to be impacted by our non-military projection of power, influence um and assistance uh throughout the Indo Pacific. Is that correct?
▶ 1:29:30I would just say that from my two recent visits to that region, meeting with many of those uh ministers of defense multiple times, uh their focus is what capabilities can we share together, interoperability and capabilities that establish deterrence because the most important message America can still send and they can still send is hard power capabilities. What can we project? Where can we project it? As the chairman said, what dilemmas can we create?
▶ 1:29:59That's the business that we're in. And so we work with those partners um that share common goals and our militaries are working better together than they ever have. And I think I appreciate your focus on the military side. That's obviously directly your job, but I'm asking you to think and comment more broadly on our big picture approach to the world.
▶ 1:30:18Um this administration for example um has proposed to reduce the state department by 8.3 billion, the economic support fund, the development assistance and democracy fund and the assistance for Eurasia. Uh this administration has illegally um sought to destroy US agency for international development and in its budget request reduce it significantly down to close to zero.
▶ 1:30:42This administration has uh proposed to reduce the international narcotics control and law enforcement um effort uh by $1.2 billion. This administration has proposed to eliminate the Millennium Challenge uh corporation or not eliminate it but reduce it by $1 billion, a significant reduction.
▶ 1:31:01one of our principal agencies that um assists us with uh meeting the needs of the Indoacific in the infrastructure area in what I think you would agree are key uh strategic uh countries such as Indonesia, such as Kiraabas, such as the Philippines, such as the Solomon Islands. Uh this administration has proposed to reduce international organization contribution contributions by 83%.
▶ 1:31:26uh this administration is not following through on on uh commitments that we made to the freely associated states, all of which are strategically critical to this country to expand veteran services um in those three countries. Palao, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. This administration appears to be sloww walking uh the um resurgence and expansion of the Peace Corps throughout the indoacific.
▶ 1:31:53Do you think that that will affect your job in the military space with your relationships with those countries? Uh, no sir. I would add to that list the elimination of most USID programs which I don't hear anything about because a lot of them were wasteful and duplicous and I'm glad we got rid of them. Well, I' I've had and as far as you mentioned international organizations, the 83% reduction.
▶ 1:32:16Again, I hear nothing about that because most of those international organizations are not serving US They're not serving US interest. So, I don't hear from our allies problems about that. I don't think you're talking part of their calculus of American. Talk to any one of those countries, they'll tell you that they're deeply concerned with the reduction of non-defense dollars and it will in fact influence our presence and our contribution to your stated goal of peace and stability.
▶ 1:32:44I think they respect and reducing waste on programs that aren't actually affecting change on the ground. Mr. Diaz Ballard, thank you. And to three of you, uh thank you uh thanks for being here and thanks for your service. Uh Mr. Secretary, I have two questions. First one is and you mentioned recruitment uh at the beginning. Um during the last four years we got used to just hearing how the recruitment was not doing well and it was just the new reality and then all of a sudden that reality has changed.
▶ 1:33:13if you can comment on why that reality is I think a lot of us know um but but but if you could talk to us a little bit about about this new reality uh which you don't hear much about in the press about how that has changed dramatically question number one question number two is a number of years ago Southcom was moved from Panama uh to South Florida there's a lot of reasons for that move it was to get it because it was in close proximity with others like uh Giat of south
▶ 1:33:44uh uh special operations command south and homestead joint task force Guantanamo uh the joint task force bravo and nonduras the US coast guard 7th district which is the busiest uh district in the entire country but also because uh in South Florida you have this multicultural multi multilingual community and as you know Southcom deals with multiple countries 40 different languages uh and so it was it was not just a cost um savings potentially, but it was
▶ 1:34:14also made a lot of sense. I believe that continues to be the case. Nothing has changed. If anything, what's changed is that the Western Hemisphere has gotten a lot more dangerous. And obviously, we have Iranian influence, Russian influence, Chinese influence. I'm very grateful, Mr. Secretary, and I don't know how much you had to do with that of of the president's uh change in attitude on no longer appeasing enemies of the United States in the s southern hemisphere, whether it's Venezuela or Cuba.
▶ 1:34:40Um, but again, there goes the importance of having Southcom where it is. And I just would like your thoughts if you've had an opportunity to look at that. Um, because it was moved from Panama. It wasn't It just wasn't in South Florida for the heck of it. It was a decision made. It was the right decision. It's proven the right be the right decision. So, two questions. If you can answer them, I'd love to hear. Well, sir, thank you for the question about recruiting. Uh, what changed is a commander-in-chief that America's young people believe in.
▶ 1:35:09President Trump was elected in November, inaugurated in January, and at first I called it the Trump bump. But then it became clear that's not enough. This is a tsunami of support amongst young Americans who want to serve under a president who they know has their back, who will fund them properly, who will not use them unnecessarily and will make sure they are part of deterrence for the country with a focus first and foremost on the homeland.
▶ 1:35:38then deterring strengths and making sure our allies step up and carry more of the burden. So you've got a historic surge in the Army and Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, you name it, Americans are responding because they there's the president says a new spirit. And he's right and you can feel it in the ranks. You go out to formations, you talk to men and women on the border, they believe in what they're doing uh in securing that southern border. You talk to them across the world, they're enthused about this new administration and its leadership.
▶ 1:36:06So it's President Trump, sir. Uh and then as far as Southcom, uh it is President Trump's focus on our hemisphere has in many ways reinvigorated the mission of Southcom and the recognition of securing American interests uh but also pushing back uh Chinese malign influence. Panama is a great example of that, but across uh Central and South America. So uh Southcom is right where it is. We're grateful for the great work that they do.
▶ 1:36:34I've had an opportunity to spend a lot of time with them and their commander uh and we work by with and through a lot of allies. Mr. Secretary, I'm a little confused. Are you telling me that the folks that are now voting with their commitment to the country are not upset that they're not able to use different pronouns? That's not Is that not Is that not a priority for the folks that are that are now signing up for our military? Well, sir, if if they wanted to get a woke indoctrination, they could just go to college.
▶ 1:37:03uh instead they're joining the military where we're focused on the basics. We know men are men, women are women, standards will be high. Uh and we're getting rid of the distractions, the ideologies, the politicization that was in our ranks so that soldiers, men and women, can do their jobs on behalf of the nation. Uh I think that's all that American people, that's all the people who want to serve want is that clarity and that support and President Trump is giving it. Well, Mr.
▶ 1:37:32Secretary, I would also add that I think having you there uh has has made it very clear what the attitude is and I will tell you to me it's really really refreshing and I thank you all. I yield back. Thank you Yields back. Miss Lee. Uh thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank you for being here. Uh Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to submit to the record an article uh from the New York Times entitled China's chokeold on this obscure mineral threatens the West Military. Without objection.
▶ 1:38:03Uh, Mr. Secretary, this article that I just referenced outlines how the Department of Defense paid an Australian firm, 10 times more than it paid MP materials, an American firm, to ensure the full ecosystem of rare earth production. MP, the largest US rare earth producer, has invested$1 billion dollars of its own capital since 2020 and employs more than 800 Americans.
▶ 1:38:33Yet, it was undercut by an Australian firm that never even broke ground uh in the US. MP Materials is ready to install their Samarium processing equipment and help the US combat China's export controls.
▶ 1:38:50And I want to note that China produces the entire world's supply of this obscure rare earth metal that is used almost entirely in military applications because of its heat resistant its use and heat resistance magnets. So in my question is in accordance with the administration's America first agenda, do you agree that subsidies should first support US companies already investing, hiring, and paying taxes in the United States?
▶ 1:39:20And can I have your support uh in ensuring that the department uh critical mineral policies will align uh with this goal? Um ma'am, it's an excellent question. It's something we have been very focused on. In fact, my deputy secretary, it is his a number one is ensuring that sourcing of critical minerals, whether they're heavy or light rare earths, are sourced reliably in America first. Yeah. And if not, then amongst allies.
▶ 1:39:49I I won't reveal or talk about more than that in a in a setting like this because we have reserves and we have capabilities, but at the same time, we have to aggressively work and MP materials mountain pass is a great example of a place where we can partner with industry. But what does China do? you know this China undercuts the market intentionally to try to corner the market and we have to account for that in the way that in the things that we support. So the answer is yes I can have your support. Thank you.
▶ 1:40:16Um I also want to turn now to um the collaborative combat aircraft. Uh I represent Las Vegas, Nevada. So we're very excited uh that uh the department will base the CCA pro unit at Creech Air Force Base which is the center of excellence and uncrrewed air aircraft systems. And I want to make sure that the department has the resources they need to make this program a success.
▶ 1:40:45Last year the Air Force had to shift $383 million to the CCA program plusing it up by 60%. Can you assure me that your budget request will fully fund the CCA program this Uh, ma'am, it does fully fund the CCA.
▶ 1:41:04And we believe in the collaborative combat aircraft, the loyal wingman concept, this idea that you project power more robustly through uh autonomous semi-autonomous systems that uh we can that amplify our lethal effect. So, yes. Thank you. Great. Can you give me an update on the first what the uh first flight and the production uh decision for increment one and are we on track for the flight? When will it be?
▶ 1:41:32And finally, when do you anticipate the production decision this fiscal year? What quantity of pro uh aircraft will we procure? How many vendors will you award? And what factors are you considering? Feel free to chime in. Um my you're talking about the CCA still correct. My understanding is later this year on the flight date as far as the deep I don't know the exact date ma'am. Um but Bren you might know. Yes ma'am. We can get back to you on the specific date.
▶ 1:42:02It should be this fiscal year and for our budget request it's $84 million for the collaborative combat aircraft. Great. Thank you. How much time do I have left? I'll just uh also can you um then outline what is planned for increment two uh what type of capabilities can we expect and what timeline and critical milestones. We'll get back to you on that one. Okay. Thank you. With that I yield. Thank you gentle lady.
▶ 1:42:30And I just like to point out that mountain passes in San Bernardino County, California. So one of the only critical uh mineral mines only left in the United States. Hopefully that'll change soon. Mr. Joyce. Nope. Nope. Mr. Elzie. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Sergeant Major Troy Black, thank you for all your years of service. You've been serving this country since Ronald Reagan Reagan was president in 1988.
▶ 1:42:55You leave be behind a distinguished career in uniform, wearing that uniform, uh, service to your country. Um, you have served as the, uh, senior enlisted adviser to the common of the Marine Corps and now to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. And I think but what will be most missed if if you didn't know this about him in 2010 he received the Bronze Star with a combat V for running across several hundred yards of uh mining placed fields to pick up a fallen Marine. You're a Marines Marine. You will be missed.
▶ 1:43:25Uh you are the pride of Louisville, Kentucky. And I'd like to say on behalf of this committee and our nation, we're grateful and fair winds and following seas. Secretary Hegsith and General Kaine and Miss McDonald. Glad you're here. I'm personally grateful for your service to our country and for sharing your valuable time with us today.
▶ 1:43:50Uh raising you bring a non-traditional perspective to your tenure as chairman having been a guardsman and an entrepreneur. Thank you for saying yes once again when called to serve and also distinguished flying cross and two bronze stars. You didn't get that by sitting behind a desk. You are a fighter pilots fighter pilot. Uh you helped the plan to bring down Scuds in 2003. So thank you for your service. And Mr. Secretary, I want to salute you for your leadership and actionoriented approach at the Pentagon.
▶ 1:44:16You've created a sense of urgency that General Kaine refers to in his testim testimony. And back to the issue of what we're not talking about today, and it's recruitment. Because in this family business, all volunteer force of ours, parents and their children who want to serve our country are now no longer afraid to sign up for fear of them being misused or not having their merit being rewarded appropriately. So, thank you. Uh you've also highlighted our servicemies in that effort. Mr.
▶ 1:44:43Mulac and I both serve on the boards of visitors at West Point and the Naval Academy. So, thank you. also appreciate your guidance on using commercial solutions in acquisition and on reducing the inflation that we have seen in the numbers of flag and general officers and I think we can make the Pentagon a triangle pretty quick. There are more Navy admirals in the various systems commands than there are in the fleet. That's too many flags in DC and not enough at the waterfront or on the flight line. But speaking of acquisition, I want to turn to the plans of a sixth generation fighter.
▶ 1:45:13General Kane in his prepared statement states that the F-47 will continue to ensure US air dominance for decades. I'm a fervent supporter of not only F-47, but whatever the FAXX is going to turn out to be. And I want to make that clear to everyone listening. Our Navy, our joint force, and our future combatant commanders need the Navy's sixth generation fighter, the FAXX.
▶ 1:45:35Relying only on the Air Force's sixth generation fighter does not solve our air superiority challenge because whether they're coming from Guam or Diego Garcia, the dimpies are already set and the missiles are already guided. It's a nonmoving target. An aircraft carrier moves its dimpy every 30 seconds. So, we can't do either of those with only the Air Force's plan by. So, we either want to win or we don't. And I know we want to win. We have to do it with the FAXX. And a three-year delay is a de facto cancellation and a win for China.
▶ 1:46:05And they are watching uh and don't take my word for it. They're conducting unrestricted warfare against us right now. Uh and if you read the the the 36 guidelines from night from the sixth century and they talk about how do you defeat an enemy or soon sue you defeat them at home with fentinel by taking out our military members before they can even join 70,000 a year. They are being successful in how they're doing unrestricted warfare and that's exactly what they're conducting.
▶ 1:46:34They're also showing us their sixth generation aircraft right now and there's at least three that we know they're working on. We can't give the field to them and say fifth generation is okay for the Navy, but it's not for the Air Force. We must have both. So, several well-informed, wellrespected leaders shared with us the importance of having both the Air Force and the Navy, sixth generation fighters, uh, Admiral Paparo, General Alvin, and Admiral Kilby acting CNO. I'm I'm not going to put y'all on the spot, but I just want to make it clear. If you'd like to address it, you may.
▶ 1:47:02I'm just putting it that that it's that important to me. Um, so what troubles me about the Pentagon needing to be a triangle now is that one of my favorite movies is Office Space. Remember Milton? Milton down there with the swing line? We're not really sure what he did, but he sure made a lot of trouble for everybody. I think we have a lot of Miltons in the systems commands and down there in the in the Pentagon, maybe at Cape who are telling you that we can't do something when we absolutely can. They need to go. So, let's get rid of the Milton.
▶ 1:47:31Let's let's invest in this generational investment. I'd like to thank General Calbert, uh, Chairman Calbert, Chairman Calbert for his investment in the FAXX and the bill and uh, present to this sub subcommittee later today. So, thank you'all. Appreciate it. Okay. Go Navy. Morelli, you're recognized. Thank you, General uh Chairman. Um I'm uh grateful for your service and grateful, Mr. Chairman, for the hearing today. I I don't want to pile on, Mr.
▶ 1:48:01Secretary, and I'm brand new to this subcommittee, but I will say that in the same way we wouldn't go into battle without knowing the number of troops, our weaponry, the number of armaments, equipment, supplies, it's really almost impossible for this committee to do its job uh without details from the president, from the department on uh on a budget request.
▶ 1:48:21So, I wonder whether or not we could get a commitment from all of you uh to come back before the committee when the full uh the budgets the the president's budget request has been delivered so you can answer questions in detail about it. Certainly, we'll make sure you get those details, Congressman. Well, getting the details is important, but also being able to answer questions about those details and what they mean, uh I think would be helpful.
▶ 1:48:46So obviously uh you know this is the chairman's decision but I would ask you to consider coming back uh before the committee uh when uh when the president's budget request is submitted to us so we could get uh your sense of of the various items in it. Um I want to go back to a topic I think uh Miss uh Captor raised which is Ukraine and I really appreciate your comment that when you referred to partners on our side like Ukraine so I'm glad we still consider them partners on our side.
▶ 1:49:15Uh last week uh the Ukraine defense uh contact group met in Brussels. I know we did not attend. You did not attend. Uh and I don't believe um you appeared even remotely, but um that was a meeting which allies coordinated billions in aid to help Ukraine. Um we're talking about funding right now without a budget, without a plan to sustain US support in what I consider the most serious conflict in Europe in a generation. So can you at least give us a sense, Mr.
▶ 1:49:45Secretary, the presidential draw down aid authorized through January 20th. Do you know how much has actually been Uh just the the presidential authority that was given through January 20th when the new administration took over. Okay. Do you have a sense of the uh how much has actually been delivered?
▶ 1:50:29Okay. And you can give us a detailed uh Thank you. Um do you know whether the department or the president is ask is prepared to ask for funding for the Ukraine security assistance initiative and at what level? Uh it is a reduction in this budget. As you know, this administration takes a very different view of that conflict. We believe it a negotiated peaceful settlement is in the best interest of both parties and our nation's interests especially with all the competing interests around the globe.
▶ 1:50:58Uh I don't think the word victory has been well defined or the path to it and as a result a path to peace that stops the killing and the carnage is something that President Trump is very invested Well, look, I I would certainly def I I think I would define victory as making sure incursions, illegal incursions by the Russian Federation into Ukraine, which is a sovereign nation, would be a victory. But uh I'll leave that aside.
▶ 1:51:24I I want to uh um just touch briefly on with the limited time I have, uh the president's announced $175 billion Golden Dome. It's been talked about. Um I know that um what has been talked about we understand that reconciliation includes a $2 billion down payment. Uh we haven't really received much in clarity on the specifics. Can can you tell me what the $25 billion will be used for? Excuse me.
▶ 1:51:53There are many specifics that are not fitting for this setting. Uh we're happy to get you at the appropriate level the specifics uh you you request. Um but what we've done is we've built out the entire understanding of what the architecture would look like ensuring it exists. It includes existing capabilities that can be fielded rapidly as President Trump has made the case we need this now not conceptually in the future.
▶ 1:52:19You know we had SDI under Ronald Reagan which was a conceptual which was a concept we've fast forward to the ability to deliver these things and the American people deserve that kind of protection. So multiple layers from multiple different types of threats coordinated with sensors both on the ground and in and in space at other layers. And we've got one of our best space force generals fully focused on that project in general Gutline uh who has a background in understanding those types of architectures.
▶ 1:52:46So I we've pulled the program up to the office of secretary of defense to make sure it's monitored on a monthly. Can you tell us what the appropriations request will be for Golden Dome in the 26th fiscal year? Well, the gentleman Go ahead. You exc uh for the record and appreciate that. Uh Mr. Fleshman, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um want to welcome Secretary Hexith, General Kaine, and Mrs. McDonald. Uh thank you.
▶ 1:53:16Uh this has been an outstanding hearing. Uh let me just say this. Uh the world is a dangerous place. The nation is a dangerous place. heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you officers stepping up and for doing an an exemplary job. Thank you so much. Uh as most of you know, I represent the third district of Tennessee. That's the great Oakidge Reservation, birthplace of the Manhattan Project.
▶ 1:53:43Um in addition to serving on this prestigious subcommittee, I'm the chairman of the Energy and Water Subcommittee, which has the NNSA. um deeply involved in the recapitalization and modernization of our nation's nuclear deterrent. It will come as no surprise I have concerns about both our progress and posture. Our progress is a concern as we are recapitalizing the entire nuclear deterrent all at once.
▶ 1:54:10Meanwhile, Russia has recapitalized its triad minus some bombers and China is rapidly expanding its numbers and fielding a triad. Of course, there's also North Korea and the looming prospect of a nuclear Iran. As we focus more on the Pacific, our postcold war posture is a concern due to the lack of in the non-strategic nuclear weapons. This creates a deeply worrying capability gap in the most critical theater.
▶ 1:54:39Um, I'll ask my questions and this ask for your answers then. First Secretary Hegsth, given this troubling strategic threat picture, what is your outlook on the current pace and scope of nuclear recapitalization? And then General Kaine, what are your ideas to fill this non-strategic nuclear capability gap in the Pacific? Are there any ways Congress can better support the department's efforts to meet these increasingly tight deadlines?
▶ 1:55:09And I'll listen to your responses. Thank you, sir. Thank you. If first if I would just take liberty, both the chairman and I have taken up almost all the oxygen from from Bin McDonald here. I would just take issue with the characterization that we have not delivered a budget and we don't have details and we're not delivering on it.
▶ 1:55:26She she and her team have done a fantastic job of working as rapidly and as detailed as possible to deliver what we feel very confidently is a robust detailed delivery of the president's agenda uh for FY26. So Brin, thank you for the work that you're doing and all the details uh and focus on that that have come through and that the nuclear triad is certainly a part of it.
▶ 1:55:48NC3 every single aspect of that uh Sentinel with the nun mccertie breach has to we we are look taking a very hard look at that while fully funding it. Columbia class critical B-21 which for the most part has been a success story but needs to be continually monitored as any major platform does and then the slick amen uh as well in investing in that capability considering the advantages we have in on the submarine side.
▶ 1:56:13So we are fully funding in fact even more so in most cases that capitalization and modernization which we have to considering what our our adversaries are up to. Thank you sir. Sure. I I just uh echo the secretary's comments about uh non-strategic nuclear weapons, slick amen, and the others. I think it really for me centers around four C's that we got to do across the enterprise. Change the culture to get after it faster. That's the first one.
▶ 1:56:39We got to create competition across the continuum and the defense and national industrial base. We need to buy better contracts and get greater capacity. So, no no ads other than that. Congressman, thank you. So if if I might may, you all feel reasonably comfortable with the way that we're modernizing our our triad. Well, sir, I'm not comfortable with the way the Sentinel upgrade had been happening. Understood.
▶ 1:57:05With a recognition that it is behind and can't be, and so we're getting at dynamic ways to address that, different alternatives. Our deputy secretary and his team very focused along with Bin. What do we fund? Why do we fund it? How do we look at new ways to do it? because the way we've approached it so far has gotten us nowhere fast. Thank you. By the way, I welcome you all to visit Oakidge at any time. Thank you and I'll yield back. Thank the gentlemen, Mr. Aguilar. Thank you, Chairman General Calbert. That's right. Thanks to the witnesses for being here.
▶ 1:57:37That's okay. Private, go ahead. The clock's still moving, Miss Mr. Secretary. I want to express my severe concern with the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles without consultation of the state of California. There have been photographs that have shown these troops sleeping on the floor and have not been provided fuel, food, or water by DoD. How long will this deployment last?
▶ 1:58:01And why were we unprepared to provide them basic necessities such in such as food and Um the commanders and troops on the field are very well prepared, sir. they rap they they responded incredibly rapidly to a deteriorating situation with equipment and capabilities. Uh we have made sure from the top down as a secretary of defense who's been in a unit holding riot shields outside the White House uh during the chaos of of the summer of 2020.
▶ 1:58:30I know what it's like to be immediately deployed into a situation like that. There are moments where you make do as best you can temporarily, but we are ensuring they're housed, fed, water capabilities in real time from my office because I care that much about the California Guard and the Marines and the men and women who are supporting our ICE agents on the ground. It's true every day. And that's a disingenuous attack that misrepresents how much we care about our troops and what they're doing to defend ICE agents. I'm not going to take the fact that we don't care about the troops.
▶ 1:59:00Nobody cares more about the troops at the top than this secretary and the chairman and our department. How long will the deployment last? We stated very publicly that it's 60 days because we want to ensure that those rioters, lutters, and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we're not going anywhere. We're here to maintain the peace on behalf of law enforcement officers in Los Angeles, which Gavin Newsome won't do. What is the estimated cost of the deployment for the guard and the Marines to LA? And where's this funding coming from?
▶ 1:59:30Will it be coming from quality of life programs that affect our service members or our families if you want to wait till I finish before I hand it to such as updates housing and barracks? Before I hand it to Brenn, uh the insinuation that we're pulling money from housing and barracks in order to fund this is disingenuously incorrect. Bin can uh give you the numbers. Absolutely. So the current estimated cost is $134 million, which is largely just TDY cost, travel, housing, food, etc. Where is it coming from?
▶ 1:59:59That's the cost. Where's it coming from? Uh, their O and M accounts. With the most recent deployment of the Marines, Mr. Secretary, what's the justification for using the military for civilian law enforcement purposes in LA? Why are you sending war fighters to cities to interact withI civilians? Every American citizen deserves to be live in a community that's safe. Uh, and ICE agents need to be able to do their job. They're being attacked for doing their job, which is deporting illegal criminals.
▶ 2:00:30That should happen in any city, Minneapolis or Los Angeles. And if they're attacked, that's lawless. And President Trump believes in law and order. So, he has every authority and he has done mobilizing National Guard or active duty troops under US code to protect federal agents in their job, which is exactly what we're doing. And we're proud to do it. We're proud to do it. 10 USC of the US code 12406 as a legal basis that the president used cites three examples um and circumstances for the guard.
▶ 2:01:00Uh invasion by a foreign nation, a rebellion or dangerous rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States or the president is unable for uh uh with regular forces to execute the laws of the United States. Which authority um is is triggered here to justify the use? I don't know. You just read it yourself and people can listen themselves, but it sounds like all three to me. If you've got millions of illegals and you don't know where they're coming from, they're flaving they're waving flags from foreign countries and assaulting police officers and law enforcement officers. That's a problem.
▶ 2:01:30The laws of the United States. Oh, the governor of California is unable to execute the laws of the United States. The president, you said the governor of the California has failed to protect his people along with the mayor of Los Angeles. And so, President Trump has said he will protect our agents and our guard and marines are proud to do. also says, "Mr. Secretary, that the orders for these purposes shall be issued through governors of the states.
▶ 2:01:53You and I both know that President Trump has all the authorities necessary and thankfully he's willing to do it on behalf of the citizens of Los Angeles, on behalf of our ICE agents, and behalf of our country. We've also pulled a billion dollars um for the for the border um as well. So, this just goes into the same, you know, fund what 134 million. I was asking M. McDonald. Okay.
▶ 2:02:15Um 134 mill 134 million goes on top of the billion that's been pulled for the So the funding that was pulled for this year was largely in FSRM and in this budget we're actually looking to plus that funding back up to backfill that for for our troops and for their Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank the gentlemen. Uh Mr. Valadeo. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Secretary. Thank you, General.
▶ 2:02:45Thank you, Miss McDonald, for being here. Um, I know a lot of things have been asked already, and since I'm the bottom of the totem pole on seniority here, all my questions get asked first. So, I'll hit one that's a little closer to home for me. Uh, Secretary Hexa, thank you for addressing the challenges uh military families have faced under their global households good contract. I've heard directly from my constituents about these issues. So, I appreciate your direct uh and uh I've heard directly from my constituents.
▶ 2:03:11So, I appreciate your directive to review the contract and raise rates during peak PCS season. Can you commit to continuing to work with us to monitor the impact and make further improvements as needed? Sir, I appreciate the question.
▶ 2:03:25We heard as well the worsening PCS change of station process that uh military members are facing that the new attempt to reform it had failed and we got that word quickly and when we did that we didn't try to excuse it away or cover it up. We immediately confronted the process.
▶ 2:03:44We fired the person in charge and we said we're gonna in this peak season plus plus up the amount we reimburse so that families are reimbursed properly and we use both systems the legacy system and the new system to ensure they actually their needs are actually met. At the end of that process we will then do a a thorough uh reform of how it how it actually happens. It hasn't worked for far too long. Everybody knows it. Uh it's about time we we we take a look at the process.
▶ 2:04:13I mean, think about the things we can deliver in real time to people in far-flung places across the across the country and across the world. And you can't reliably move an E4 from California to to New York and ensure that the goods get there within a week. Uh, that's a failure of the United States military and we're going to fix it. I appreciate that. Um, next question.
▶ 2:04:33Secretary Hex says, "With rising tensions involving Russia and China, what steps is the department taking to ensure our defense industrial base can meet surge of demands across multiple theaters, are we seeing adequate investments in munition stockpiles, logistics, and supply chain resilience, in particular when it comes to critical inputs like rare earths and other essential minerals? I would just echo exactly what you said.
▶ 2:04:58It's because of the urgency of the moment, the reality of the threats we face, the threats that are joining forces in sort of an anti-American, anti-Western block, uh are developing capabilities that they're fielding and trying in other theaters to uh to refine them. The munitions that we have, where we use them, how we procure them, and what we use them for, the supply chain that goes into the materials on those munitions.
▶ 2:05:24Unfortunately, we we inherited a department that didn't pay enough attention to that, that seemed to think sourcing from adversaries was going to be okay in a time of of contingency or crisis. We are changing that or content to make the same munitions we've had in the past because well, they were made in somebody's district or they were made in somebody's state and that's the way we always do it. We're not doing that anymore. We're we're making the tough calls based on the threats we face, matching it to the capabilities.
▶ 2:05:51And I'm happy to sit in front of every and any committee and explain why we're doing it because it's about time. It's about time we challenge that. And that doesn't mean we don't want input. We do want input. We know why people are invested in certain programs and certain systems, but it's our job to make the tough calls. And President Trump has asked us to do that. I'm willing to make the tough calls whether it's on personnel, systems, platforms, modernization, and partner with folks like General Kane and the joint staff who've been with us on in every step of the way. I appreciate that. Uh, so we got a little more time.
▶ 2:06:21So, Secretary Hexth, as the department looks to stay ahead of nearpeer threats, will the defense budget continue to invest in hypersonic weapons and defense systems including unmanned high moach and nextgen aviation technologies? Uh, the answer is yes. In a way, unfortunately, the previous administration did not. So, if you're looking at long range fires, autonomous systems, hypersonics are part of warfare of the long-range drones, a part of the warfare of the future.
▶ 2:06:49That means we're investing in them to be better than our adversaries. Not accept the fact that we have matching capabilities, but what more can we do to enhance those so we're ahead of the curve? Because when President Trump says we have the best platforms, the best systems, the best fighters, the best ships, the best vehicles, he means it and we mean business on it and we're going to deliver it. All right. Thank you. And I've got 30 seconds. So, General Kaine, if Congress had one extra dollar to invest today and most effectively to strengthen our deterrence posture against China, Russia, and threats to the Middle East, where should it go?
▶ 2:07:2020 seconds. Wow. I'm going to I'm going to take 19 of those. Congressman, uh, probably probably in munitions. I don't know how much we'd buy for $1, but I'd want to make sure that the joint force is properly armed at scale at the tactical edge and the youngsters that volunteer to serve have what they need. I appreciate that. Thank you, chairman. I yield back. Thanks, gentlemen. Mr.
▶ 2:07:47Choice, there we go. Thank you chairman uh secretary everybody I appreciate uh we had to go out to other you wouldn't believe this but there are other hearings taking place so I went over to bug secretary turner and now came back so it's your turn secretary heath your April 30th memo on army transportation and acquisition reform directs the army to expand preposition stocks of equipment to the Indoacific I
▶ 2:08:17expect we would need to enhance our industrial base capacity to support this effort can you discuss the importance of increasing preposition stocks in Eno Pacific and how this affects the Army's resources for FY26. It's a great question because it it it marries up two things that need to be linked and synced and often aren't right. The capabilities that we have and the priority theater and where we preposition those capabilities. So my job exists on multiple ax multiple uh axes of that.
▶ 2:08:46One is working with allies and partners to make sure we have places to preposition them. Many of which we can't talk about here today. But in the in the event of a contingency, we can't be relying on a supply chain that reaches all the way back to the states or even to Hawaii or even to Guam. You need to recognize the prepositioning of stocks. But then you have to have those stocks and they have to be the relevant ones for the systems that you're deploying. And you need a defense industrial base to deliver on that.
▶ 2:09:08which is why we've made historic investments in munitions focusing on priority munitions that would be applied in our priority theater with a recognition that every munition we spend somewhere else and that I say that as someone who very proudly we conducted a very successful uh freedom of navigation campaign against the Houthies to ensure that our ships don't and by the way two of our ships transited the BAM successfully and the ceasefire held very recently so we're not doesn't mean you don't expend munitions you judiciously ly expend
▶ 2:09:38them with an understanding that you have to safeguard others for future fights and prepositioning and then invest in your industrial base. And I think that's why you see a budget with a 13% increase 13% increase in a defense budget is significant and allows us to both invest in the president's priorities and fasttrack munitions that we're going to need. For a guy chairing a committee that has to cut his by 57%, I can tell you being a plus 13 is a lucky day.
▶ 2:10:07Chairman Kaine, our forces face growing challenges sustaining operations across contested environments, particularly in the Indoacific. China is investing in capabilities designed to disrupt supply lines, access to forward operating bases, and target uh critical logistic nodes. What steps are you taking to strengthen contested logistics capabilities? And what investments can Congress make to ensure that you have operational resilience? Well, Congressman, thanks for the question.
▶ 2:10:32You know, um, history tells us that that professionals talk about logistics and that's what was the big differentiator between us and our adversaries in World War II is really the logistics power. You know, our our teammates uh within the joint force are looking carefully at this right now and as we look at the adversaries threat arrays that they have and our ability to defeat them and move the combat capacity that we need to through those difficult places is a is
▶ 2:11:03a key part of that. Um, I don't have a specific number for you, but what I'll commit is as we think through what contested logistics looks like, as we think through what forward supply points on the first and second island chain might look like, uh, we'll stay close with the committee to make sure that we're communicating early, often, and always about what our needs are. I certainly appreciate that. And they throw out that uh having a small Air Force Reserve uh airport in Youngsttown, Ohio area.
▶ 2:11:33Some great C130Js up there, Congressman. Yeah. Appreciate the help on our fire department for these the new inventory we got. But the old stuff we had there, you had maybe eight planes. You're cannibalizing three to feed the five because we didn't have a parts in uh storage and those type of things. And I think that's has played out in other areas for us as well.
▶ 2:11:54And we need to not only have make sure we have the manufacturing industrial base, but we also have the ability to have the parts and inventory on to keep all those things online or we have to remove them from sir. I know I know uh uh General Alvin and the team at the Air Force is looking hard at that too to make sure that we've got the right stuff on the shelf prior to that we need not just in the C130 community but the other uh other airframes within the Air Force and frankly the joint force parts are always going to be a driver.
▶ 2:12:22And I'm really encouraged by the innovation that's happening to look at things like additive manufacturing where we get a hold of the the specs from companies like Lockheed and others and can just 3D print right on the spot of the requirement. Those have to be in any procurement you do from now on that. Yes, sir. I think so, sir. It's you know the the force of the future will fix on the spot. So, uh they'll need to be able to have the parts right there.
▶ 2:12:47And as we look at mission command and delegating authorities and responsibilities to our younger commanders and and you know complex command and control uh problems, part of that is going to be the ability to sustain our force out there at the edge. Thank you very much. And yes, sir, I yield back. And thinking of logistics, it made me think at what was it General Marshall who went out in the 30s and met with a young lieutenant colonel and said is the best logistics officer I've ever met. And that was General Eisenhower.
▶ 2:13:16Three years later, he was a four-star general. So, or logistics are important, Mr. Anderhold. You're recognized. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And uh thanks everyone for being here today this morning. And as we uh wrap up the hearing today, I let me uh say the the Golden Dome Initiative represents u in my opinion a substantial investment in our national security.
▶ 2:13:42And um I credit this administration uh in pursuing this bold project and um I share your ambition for it. So thank you for moving forward on that. Um want to follow up with my uh from my colleague from New York. The president has said that he has uh chosen an option that will total 175 billion.
▶ 2:14:03Uh can you confirm that number and u when do you hope to make this system of systems I'll have Bin confirm it. I'll have Bin confirm it. But our belief is that 150 175 is the totality. Uh that this is the initial investment, but that a lot of the investment will eventually be in systems, some of which are already uh in production.
▶ 2:14:29We'll need to ramp up the production of them because the president has has charged us with having this mission capable by the end of his term. This is not something that's futuristic. This is not something that will happen in some distant future based on some technology we don't yet have or can't field. Our approach to Golden Dome will be making sure we can procure existing layers that can talk to each other with new layers on top uh because this is a layered system as was mentioned um to include uh drones as well in partnership with the services. So can you can you confirm that Bren?
▶ 2:15:00Yes sir. Nothing to nothing to add. That's all accurate and we're still planning towards what the final number is but the $ 24.8 8 billion we're requesting this year is that down payment on the near-term capabilities that we're we're looking at as part of the architecture. Okay. Thank you. Let me switch over um and I'd like to get your thoughts on AUS uh partnership uh not merely as a cornerstone for our Indo-Pacific defense strategy but also as an opportunity for our defense industrial base.
▶ 2:15:28uh in fact we've heard from a a lot of uh Australian and UK businesses who are ready, willing and able to move uh production to the US given the new regulatory framework under pillar two. Uh Britain and Australia set the standard for defense corporation bringing real capability and fire firepower to the fight.
▶ 2:15:51Um, can you preview how this administration intends to fund pillar 2 efforts to develop and field joint capabilities between all three partners? It's a great question, sir. I've spent a a great deal of time with both Minister of Defense uh Marles from Australia as well as U Secretary of Defense Healey from the UK to really get our arms around what would be mutually beneficial uh in this trilateral arrangement.
▶ 2:16:21So there's the recognition with Australian and Pillar One that they're investing in our defense industrial base. We want to provide them capabilities. We want to make sure those capabilities are part of how they use them uh with their with submarines, but also how they integrate with us as allies. In pillar two, we're not we don't want to rely just on the architecture of the previous administration.
▶ 2:16:42We're looking at sort of a s the opportunity for a signature program or programs we can work on together that benefit all three uh that create processes or procurement opportunities of systems we need for future fights. And we've had, in fact, as recently as last week, I spoke with uh Secretary Healey about that. And we're looking for those one or two signature programs. We've got a menu of options. We're we're we're at the point where we'll get to right sizing it and determining it.
▶ 2:17:09And and you feel at this point that things are on track and you you you're that's what we're monitoring especially in pillar one, sir, to make sure that we expectations are properly set so that we're not if you know we're not missing deadlines or expectations are shifted in the wrong direction. So, we're having honest conversations with our allies like we should with a recognition that by investing in each other in that defense industrial base, we can have a multiplying effect. Thank you. I yield back. Thanks, gentlemen. Miss McCullman, any closing statement?
▶ 2:17:39Um, just Yes. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, uh to Mr. Aguilar's qu uh question and Miss McDonald, you were helping to fill in the blanks. it. The money is coming from FSRM and that's about a 25% cut to that budget to fill on what's happening on the border and now what's happening in Los Angeles. If you could give us the details of what's not going to happen in that account because of that, that would be fabulous.
▶ 2:18:06We might want to look and see if we prioritize things in in next year's budget to make sure that they're covered. Mr. Secretary, um your The top line on the budget before us is $830 billion. It is not 911 um billion dollars. It's just not that that that's the number we have to work with. You can talk about an increase.
▶ 2:18:35You've got a lot of things baked in. Hopefully that goes in reconciliation. $6 billion for uh revitalizing shipyards, 3.5 for um F47s, 25 for Golden Dome. But that's all in reconciliation and we can't include that in any of our planning. And that's why we are so concerned about getting the the the money uh outbreaks in front of this committee. And I'll give you an example.
▶ 2:19:04Um the Navy, their JBooks where they break everything down. I know you're really familiar with them. We had 30 of them in front of us when we were getting ready to do our appropriation last time. We have zero in front of us this time. So, um you know, Mr.
▶ 2:19:20Secretary, I know I'm I I believe honestly believe you want to provide the information, but time is of the efence essence because this committee wants to do its best work together, both Democrats and Republicans, to make sure the women who serve in our armed forces have the equipment that they need to do the missions that that they're assigned to and come home safely because we honor their their service and their commitment. Get us the information. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
▶ 2:19:47I I thank the gentle lady and I I just make where we're going to agree that we we need some more detailed information. We're going to go ahead and we're going to go upstairs here and do the subcommittee mark, but then we're later this week we're going to do the full committee mark on this bill. The Senate is is pushing off doing their appropriation bills in general until after reconciliation passes because they want to incorporate that. But we don't have a luxury of time. We'll just have to work out the differences we have uh in uh in conference.
▶ 2:20:17But uh it's hard for us to do our job without the JBooks, without the detailed information, and I know you know that. And so uh you might talk to your friends at OM uh and uh if OM has any friends. I don't know if they do, but and and see if they can uh get this uh going for us because it'll be very helpful. Uh with that, uh Mr. Secretary, thank you. Chairman, thank you. and Miss McDonald. Thank you. We appreciate all of you being here today. We are joured. Thank you.