The Pentagon’s massive $1.5 trillion budget request will face its first test Tuesday as House lawmakers quiz Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth about the proposal in a high-stakes hearing. 

Democrats and some Republicans have raised concerns about the unprecedented size of the request, which would increase defense funding by nearly 50% from 2026 levels while making cuts to domestic spending. 

The Trump administration argues the jump in defense spending is necessary to counter threats from geopolitical adversaries and advance the president’s priorities, including replenishing weapons stockpiles and expanding the defense industrial base.

Hegseth is also expected to face questions on the administration’s military strategy toward Iran as peace talks remain stalled between Washington and Tehran. Trump said Monday that the ceasefire with Iran is «on life support» during a news conference in the Oval Office.

TRUMP CALLS FOR $1.5T DEFENSE BUDGET TO BUILD ‘DREAM MILITARY’

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst will testify alongside Hegseth at the House Appropriations Committee hearing.

The anticipated testimony follows back-to-back congressional hearings the trio participated in April, during which Hegseth repeatedly clashed with Democrats over the U.S. military campaign against Iran.

«The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,» Hegseth told lawmakers.

Hurst testified to Congress in April that the Iran war has cost $25 billion so far, mostly for munitions, though multiple reports say the total could be far higher. The Department of War is expected to seek a defense supplemental request following the conclusion of the conflict, which could be much larger in scope.

«It’s shocking how deep we have gone into these magazines,» Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said on CBS News’ «Face the Nation» on Sunday. «Because this president got our country into this without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline, and because of that, we’ve expended a lot of munitions, and that means the American people are less safe.»

Hegseth accused the Arizona Democrat of divulging classified information and pledged to have the Pentagon’s legal counsel review his remarks. 

«Did he violate his oath…again?» Hegseth wrote on social media, referring to his attempts to sanction Kelly, a Navy veteran, for advising troops to ignore illegal orders last year.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his wife, Jennifer, arrive at the House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of Defense fiscal 2027 budget request in the Rayburn Building on April 29, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc.)

$1,300 COFFEE CUPS, 8,000% OVERPAY FOR SOAP DISPENSERS SHOW WASTE AS DOGE LOCKS IN ON PENTAGON

The Pentagon’s budget request is expected to face an uphill battle with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Democrats vowing to ensure it «never passes.» Any defense spending bill would require some Democratic votes to pass the Senate due to the upper chamber’s 60-vote legislative filibuster. 

Kelly has slammed the fiscal year 2027 budget request as «outrageous» and called on the administration to submit a new budget that «makes sense for the moment we’re in.»

«When I got to the Senate five and a half years ago, the defense budget was just over $700 billion,» Kelly told CBS News’ «Face the Nation» on Sunday. «Now, they’re asking for twice as much money. It’s nearly the amount that the rest of the world pays for its defense.» 

The Pentagon’s request would allocate more than $65 billion for the Navy’s «Golden Fleet» initiative and nearly $20 billion for Trump’s Golden Dome air defense shield. The administration also proposes spending billions on the next-generation F-47 Air Force fighter jet and unmanned weapons systems.

On the non-defense side, the administration’s budget request would slash funding for the State Department and international programs by a third and the Environmental Protection Agency by 50%, among other agencies.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., speaks to members of the media outside federal court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

At least one pressure point that Hegseth faced over Ukraine in April is off the table.

The Pentagon chief announced in late April that the administration released $400 million in Ukraine money that Congress approved in 2025. Hegseth was grilled about the delay in transferring aid to the country during his appearance before the House Armed Services Committee in April. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of War for comment.

Un grupo de 70 legisladores laboristas pidió la renuncia del primer ministro británico, Keir Starmer, en medio de una grave crisis política derivada de la dura derrota del oficialismo en las elecciones locales de la semana pasada en el Reino Unido. En tanto, tres asesores ministeriales de Starmer presentaron este lunes su dimisión.

La ministra del Interior, Shabana Mahmood, y la jefa de la diplomacia, Yvette Cooper, le pidieron que defina un calendario para su salida, según varios medios británicos, entre ellos The Guardian y Sky News. El lunes por la noche, al menos 70 diputados laboristas, de un total de 403, habían pedido a Starmer que dejara el cargo.

En un discurso ante militantes del partido en Londres, Starmer hizo un llamado a su partido y a los votantes para que lo apoyen y eviten una lucha por el liderazgo laborista que, a su juicio, solo traería caos.

Pero su discurso, en el que prácticamente admitió haber sido demasiado tímido a la hora de abordar los problemas que aquejan a Gran Bretaña desde que obtuvo una amplia mayoría en 2024, hizo poco por calmar la ira tras una de las peores derrotas del Partido Laborista.

El resultado de los comicios locales del jueves fue desastroso para el gobierno. Por primera vez en la historia, tres de las cuatro naciones británicas (Escocia, Gales e Irlanda del Norte) serán previsiblemente gobernadas por partidos independentistas.

“Starmer ha perdido autoridad”

Tres asesores ministeriales anunciaron su renuncia, convencidos de que Starmer, de 63 años, no era el hombre idóneo para liderar el Partido Laborista en las próximas elecciones nacionales, previstas para 2029, y con la esperanza de desencadenar una contienda por el liderazgo que podría durar semanas o meses.

“Para mí está claro que el primer ministro ha perdido autoridad no solo dentro del Partido Laborista en el Parlamento, sino en todo el país, y que no podrá recuperarla”, dijo Tom Rutland, asesor del ministro de Medio Ambiente, quien renunció a su cargo.

Catherine West, una exviceministra poco conocida que reapareció el fin de semana para amenazar con convocar una contienda por el liderazgo si Starmer no ofrecía un cambio radical, dijo que había recibido 80 respuestas que apoyaban su exigencia de que el primer ministro estableciera un calendario para su dimisión.

West pidió que se celebren elecciones para elegir al nuevo líder en septiembre.

Más temprano, Starmer había intentado cambiar la narrativa sobre su mandato. Así, argumentó que ofrecería una ruptura total con decisiones del pasado que habían conducido al status quo.

Respecto del liderazgo, el primer ministro dijo que ahora la continuidad era más importante, en un contexto global marcado por los conflictos en Ucrania e Irán.

Leé también: EE.UU. realizó al menos 25 vuelos militares cerca de Cuba para reunir información de inteligencia

Starmer obtuvo en 2024 una de las mayorías parlamentarias más amplias de la historia moderna británica con promesas de impulsar la economía, reducir la inmigración ilegal y acortar las listas de espera en el servicio sanitario público.

Sin embargo, los avances se vieron obstaculizados por giros de 180 grados en las políticas, la percepción entre algunos miembros de su partido de que no está dispuesto a tomar decisiones difíciles y una serie de escándalos políticos.

Esta situación contribuyó a que su índice de aprobación sea uno de los más bajos de cualquier primer ministro británico.

Crece el independentismo

Las elecciones del jueves dejaron un panorama político difícil para el laborismo en el gobierno.

En Gales, el partido independentista galés Plaid Cymru hizo historia al convertirse por vez primera en la fuerza más votada en una región que estaba bajo poder laborista desde hace más de un siglo. Logró 43 escaños en el Parlamento de Cardiff (Senedd) y un 36 % de los votos totales.

En Escocia, el Partido Nacional Escocés (SNP) revalidará su quinto mandato consecutivo tras ganar las elecciones con 58 escaños, aunque perdió seis bancas y quedó lejos de la mayoría absoluta. Sin embargo, una previsible coalición con los Verdes Escoceses (15 legisladores) mantendría el liderazgo del bloque pro-independentista en la Cámara baja de Holyrood (Edimburgo).

A Gales y Escocia se le une, además, Irlanda del Norte. Desde febrero del 2024, la fuerza dominante es la formación izquierdista Sinn Féin, brazo político del ya extinto IRA, que aboga por la reunificación de la provincia británica con la República de Irlanda.

(Con información de Reuters, AFP y EFE)

Tuesday is primary day in red-leaning Nebraska, where party showdowns for the House and Senate will tee up general election matchups in the battle for Congress.

Meanwhile, in GOP-dominated West Virginia, establishment Sen. Shelley Moore Capito faces five Republican primary challenges, but enjoys the backing of President Donald Trump.

And in New Jersey, Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, who grabbed national attention last year as he was arrested during an anti-ICE protest outside a federal immigration detention center, is facing seven challengers as he seeks a fourth term steering the Garden State’s largest city.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

Tuesday’s contests come with less than six months to go until the 2026 midterm elections, when Republicans aim to hold their razor-thin House and slim Senate majorities, and Democrats hope to ride a blue wave to escape the political wilderness.

Here’s a closer look at Tuesday’s ballot box showdowns.

Nebraska

Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, who was appointed in 2023 to replace Ben Sasse, and who won a 2024 special election to fill out the final two years of Sasse’s term, is running for a full six-year term. Ricketts faces four primary challengers on Tuesday, but is expected to capture his party’s nomination.

Ricketts is already eyeing the general election, when he’ll face off against independent candidate Dan Osborn, the industrial mechanic and military veteran who gave Republican Sen. Deb Fischer a scare in her 2024 re-election.

SIX MONTHS TILL MIDTERMS: THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska is facing four Republican primary challengers as he seeks a full six-year term as senator. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency)

Even though the Nebraska Democratic Party supports Osborn in the general election, community college instructor Cindy Burbank and pastor Bill Forbes are running for the Democrats’ nomination in the primary.

Both candidates were last-minute filers, and some Nebraska Democratic leaders alleged that Forbes jumped into the race so that a Democrat would be on the fall ballot and siphon votes away from Osborn to help Ricketts.

Forbes has denied the claims.

Burbank says she jumped into the race to keep Forbes off the ballot in November.

In the gubernatorial primary, GOP Gov. Jim Pillen faces five nomination challengers. Former state Sen. Lynne Walz and perennial candidate Larry Marvin face off for the Democratic nomination.

The primary in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, an Omaha-based competitive seat, is grabbing national attention, in the race to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Don Bacon. The seat is a top target for Democrats as they try to retake the House.

Omaha City Councilmember Brinker Harding is unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Two major Democrats, state Sen. John Cavanaugh and Denise Powell, are vying for their party’s congressional nomination.

Nebraska is the only state in the nation, along with Maine, to split their electoral votes in presidential elections. And the electoral vote up for grabs in Nebraska’s 2nd District, known as the ‘blue dot,’ was carried by then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

Powell argues that if Cavanaugh wins the primary and then the general election, and steps down from his state Senate seat, GOP Gov. Pillen would replace him with a Republican, which could potentially lead to the GOP-dominated legislature scrapping the ‘blue dot’ and making Nebraska’s electoral votes winner-take-all.

West Virginia

Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey is not on the ballot in Tuesday’s primary, but the first-term governor’s clout in state politics is on the line, as the governor is targeting several GOP state lawmakers running for re-election.

Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey is not on the ballot but his political clout will be tested in Republican state legislative primaries on Tuesday. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, in the U.S. Senate race, five Democrats are seeking their party’s nomination.

In Charleston, West Virginia’s capital city, Democratic Mayor Amy Goodwin faces a primary challenge as she seeks a third term. Republican Brian Hunt is unopposed for the Republican nomination.

New Jersey

While Baraka is a Democrat, mayoral elections in Newark are technically nonpartisan.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

If no candidate tops 50% of the vote, a runoff between Tuesday’s top two finishers will be held in early June.

The charges against Baraka were dropped, and he later ran for governor, coming in second to then-Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Sherrill ended up winning election as New Jersey governor.