Senior Pentagon officials are privately pressing Senate Republicans to support a future reconciliation package with a major increase in defense spending, Axios reports.
During a closed-door briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials highlighted threats from China, depleted U.S. munitions stockpiles following the Iran and Ukraine wars, and the need for greater military investment in artificial intelligence. The Trump administration is also considering a lame-duck package that could combine Pentagon funding with a debt-ceiling increase expected in 2027.
