“DON'T WANT TO HEAR A SPEECH”: When Sen. Shaheen Silenced Pete Hegseth In Heated Hearing

Do you want radical Islamists to have a nuclear bomb that can stare down the world? I don't want to hear your speech because I have limited time. I don't understand. So if you can't answer my question, then I will move on to my next question. Thank you, Madam Chair. Secretary Hegseth, since you last testified before this committee, we finally received the spend plan for the $400 million FY26 appropriation for Ukraine security assistance. This funding was passed back in January, and now there are only three months left in this fiscal year. And while I appreciate that we now see what most of the funding is intended for, I just heard from the CEO of one of the manufacturers of the defense articles that are contained in the spend plan that they not only haven't received funding, but they haven't even seen a contract. So when are we going to see a contract for those defense articles that are contained in the spend plan for Iraq? I'm sorry, for Ukraine. For Ukraine. Senator, I'll have to get back to you on the specifics of the timeline of that. I'll talk to our policy shop as well as the UCOM commander to determine where that's at. Well, you've told this committee that you've barely spent half of the $150 billion in reconciliation funding. And if you still have $75 billion available, why are you asking the American people to absorb the cost of a war they don't support instead of asking for transfer authority for unspent reconciliation funding, especially if you can't even get 400 million dollars in Ukraine funding out the door as I mentioned earlier senator that money from the one big beautiful bill is otherwise allocated to the rebuilding of our military with priorities the president like Golden Dome for America and hypersonics and other munitions investments that we made up front as we tried to adjust the Biden budget budget into an America First budget and so reallocating that away from those priorities is Robin Peter to pay Paul those are allocated to rebuild my point and ultimately we're committed If you can't spend it on a timeline that makes sense, why do you need to come back and ask for more money? Wouldn't it be better to spend money that you already have? And one of the things I noted was, or at least I think that this supplemental doesn't include funding to repair damage to our bases or to our military infrastructure in the region. And I have not heard that we've gotten the full extent of any of those damage estimates. So should we expect another request to address that military construction costs? And at what point do you stop asking Americans to put the bill for a war they don't support on top of an inflated budget request and billions in reconciliation funds that you still haven't spent? Well, Senator, I obviously don't agree with your characterization of that. I appreciate that, but you didn't ask me. But I want you to answer my question. I know you don't agree with my characterization. I don't agree with yours either. Well, one of the reasons I take issue with that characterization is something that Senator Durbin said when he talked about Ukraine and he talked about winning. And I appreciate as much as anybody winning a war, but I sit in front of a committee that wants to talk about winning a war that's been going on for four years and talks about strategic defeat of a conflict that's been going on for four months to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. I would hope for some perspective in this town of the historic nature of what President Trump is undertaking. Do you want radical Islamists to have a nuclear bomb that can stare down the world? I don't want to hear your speech because I have limited time. I don't understand. If you can't answer my question, then I will move on to my next question. Secretary Rollins, the timber industry has also been hard hit, as you know, by trade wars, by drought, by wildfires, by other natural disasters that are increasingly common. In New Hampshire, which is the second most heavily forested state in the nation, One of the things that we really need, as you know, because we've had this conversation, is a research program and Forest Service staffing on the ground in a variety of ways, but particularly at Bartlett Experimental Forest. These small investments in research and staffing and sound management help make the forest economies healthier and more competitive. I very much appreciate your having staff visit Bartlett last week with my staff and with staff from the governor's office, but can you commit to restoring staffing at Bartlett and to keeping the facilities there open now that you've seen the critical nature of that research? Why don't I follow up with you? I have not gotten a report from their visit, so I would like to do that first, but obviously you and I have been in a continuing conversation about that. the good news there's no doubt our timber industry is in distress and has been for a long time the fact that we import 90 percent or something from other countries of our lumber needs is crazy we're changing that but the good news we had more board feet sold last year than any time in 30 years this year we're going to exceed that target again so we're making the right moves on this but there's no doubt that research is important to that as we've discussed and i'll follow up with our team and then we'll reconnect. Thank you. I appreciate that. As you pointed out, research is critical to ensuring that the timber economy continues to be successful. Thank you, Madam Chair. Subscribe to One India and never miss an update. Download the One India app now.