Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s first trip to Capitol Hill to argue for next year’s Pentagon budget shed new light on funding for some of the Air Force’s top-priority acquisition programs, even as the department continues to hide its 2026 request from view.
Budget
Over half a million troops would serve in the Air Force and Space Force in 2026, the Trump administration said last week, keeping the workforce essentially flat as Airmen and Guardians tackle a growing list of missions around the globe.
Absent a full defense budget request from the White House nearly six months into President Donald Trump’s tenure, lawmakers are taking matters into their own hands.
Senate lawmakers unveiled legislation June 4 that would funnel at least $26 billion to the Air Force and Space Force starting this year.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will head to Capitol Hill this month to make the case for the Trump administration’s proposed defense budget, a Pentagon spokesperson said June 2.
The Air Force budget would grow to $234 billion while Space Force spending would shrink to $26 billion under the White House's yearly ask.
Republicans aim to funnel billions of dollars into some of the Air Force’s top-priority programs as part of a divisive bill the GOP may be able to enact without Democratic support.
Senior U.S. lawmakers expressed frustration that they are being cut out of some of the Trump administration’s most central decisions on military policy and spending. Their concerns, which are shared on both sides of the aisle, concern the budget reconciliation process as well as Defense Secretary ...
The future of the Air Force’s acquisition of 26 Boeing E-7 Wedgetail aircraft is in doubt under spending plans that are being weighed by the Trump administration.