Overview
- Senators said that at a classified briefing on Thursday Elbridge Colby did not deliver the congressionally required update on the National Defense Strategy and gave answers they described as evasive.
- Lawmakers pressed Colby on the Iran campaign and left with unanswered questions about strategy and decision-making that officials link to a growing munitions shortfall.
- Colby told senators he had heard about discussions to deploy National Guard personnel to polling places but said he was not leading those talks, a disclosure that heightened election-security concerns.
- Nearly every Senate Democrat sent Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a letter demanding a detailed breakdown of Iran-war costs and use of prior funds and set a Sept. 30 deadline for those answers.
- Oversight friction follows reported Pentagon personnel turmoil and a depleted inventory that industry experts say will take roughly three years to rebuild, a dynamic that could strain readiness while supplemental war funding remains stalled in Congress.