A Republican-led Senate committee has threatened to freeze the bulk of Pete Hegseth’s travel budget unless the Pentagon hands over potentially damning information on military operations.
Under the defense policy bill filed by the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, “not more than 25 percent” of the defense secretary’s travel budget can be used until Hegseth provides Congress with “unredacted civilian harm investigations” and other relevant documents on strikes in the Middle East and Latin America.
Senators on the Armed Services Committee, led by Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, singled out the April 2025 strikes in Yemen that killed dozens and the February 2026 bombing of the Minab girls’ school in Iran that killed at least 150 students and staff.
The lawmakers also demanded that Hegseth provide the Senate and House Armed Services Committees with “unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations in the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command,” in reference to the deadly boat strikes in the Caribbean that began in September last year.
Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the bill “strengthens national defense and enhances oversight and accountability.”
“It forces the Secretary to be more accountable to Congress and will prevent many errors of the past from being repeated in the future,” he said in a statement that acknowledged Wicker’s “partnership.”
The Pentagon declined to comment.
Lawmakers, including several Republicans, have long been frustrated with the Pentagon for keeping them in the dark.
In March, Mike Rogers, the Republican head of the House Armed Services Committee, complained that the Trump administration wasn’t giving Congress enough information about its plans in the Middle East.
“We want to know more about what’s going on, what the options are, and why they’re being considered,” he told reporters at the time. “And we’re just not getting enough answers on those questions.”
In November, Wicker briefly paused a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing after a defense official apparently falsely claimed that lawmakers had been given briefings on U.S. plans to trim the number of troops in Romania.
“Where did you get that information?” Wicker asked Austin Dahmer, deputy defense undersecretary for policy.
“Can you tell me who did them, the dates… because I wasn’t invited,” Florida Sen. Rick Scott said.
