Overview
- This week reporting showed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made multiple closed-door Capitol Hill trips and excluded Senate Democrats from at least two classified Pentagon briefings.
- Several Republican senators, including Thom Tillis, Mike Rounds and Lisa Murkowski, publicly criticized the tactic and urged Hegseth to include Democrats in order to build broader support and prevent leaks of sensitive material.
- Lawmakers warned that shutting out the minority could undermine passage of the administration's unprecedented $1.5 trillion defense proposal because the package will likely need Democratic votes in the Senate to succeed.
- The Pentagon pushed back through spokesperson Sean Parnell, saying the department remains committed to working with Congress to give warfighters necessary resources while protecting classified information.
- The episode adds to earlier reporting that Democrats were excluded from briefings on recent operations and deepens questions about Hegseth's partisan approach and its effects on long-term oversight, procurement certainty and bipartisan defense consensus.