Pentagon officials are secretly preparing for Donald Trump’s demand for a record $1.5 trillion defense budget to fail, according to a report.
For months, the Trump administration, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has called on Congress to fund a mammoth $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget to pay for military projects such as a “Golden Fleet” battleship or a planned “Golden Dome” missile defense system, as well as replenishing severely depleted stockpiles used in the war in Iran.
However, the record-breaking military budget request has struggled to attract the bipartisan support it needs. With the GOP potentially losing control of the House and Senate in next week’s midterms, the Pentagon is quietly preparing to draft a budget that cuts $400 billion from the president’s request.
“None of them expect anywhere close to 1.5 trillion,” a former official told Politico. “They are absolutely developing plans [for less] and that is much more the expectation than anything close to 1.5 trillion.”
Another source with knowledge of the plans admitted that the Pentagon “can’t admit” it is preparing for a reduced military budget, as doing so would run contrary to what administration officials have been saying about getting the $1.5 trillion package over the line.
The Trump administration believes Congress can clear the full military funding package through a process called reconciliation, which allows the Senate to pass certain spending legislation with a simple majority of 51 votes rather than the usual 60-vote threshold.
Using this process, Republican lawmakers could add $350 billion to a $1.15 trillion base defense budget.
Some Senate Republicans have expressed doubt that reconciliation would pass at all if the GOP loses control of either the House or the Senate in the midterms.
When Congress returns after the November 3 elections, Republicans will have less than five weeks to vote on multiple bills before the new congressional term begins.
“If we lose control of Congress, it’ll be the Last Supper,” MAGA Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno previously told Politico, adding that the reconciliation plan would be less likely to “happen” if Democrats win control of either chamber.
“Republicans are increasingly angry at the administration on the defense front,” the former official added. “[It’s] unlikely that anything drastic, a $1.5 trillion budget, would happen.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and the Pentagon for comment.
