NEWS: Pete Hegseth Interrupted By Protester During Senate Hearing, Called A 'War Criminal'

[0:00] Mr. Secretary, you are now recognized [0:03] for your opening statement, sir. [0:07] Well, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Reed, Senators, [0:11] thank you for the opportunity to testify [0:13] in support of President Trump's historic, [0:15] as you said, Mr. Chairman, $1.5 trillion fiscal year [0:19] 2027 budget for the Department of War. [0:22] The President's budget request reflects the urgency [0:25] of the moment, addressing both the deferment [0:28] of longstanding problems as well as positioning our forces [0:31] for the current and future fights. [0:34] I'm honored to appear alongside General Dan Cain, [0:36] Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, [0:38] and Jay Hurst, our Chief Financial Officer and Comptroller. [0:42] I'd like to start by thanking this committee and Congress [0:45] for your partnership in securing the investments needed [0:47] for a stronger, prouder, and more secure military. [0:51] Your focus on acquisitions, your focus on efficiency [0:54] are the reflection in our department as well [0:56] and in this budget. [1:00] A nation's ability to build, to innovate, [1:02] and to support the critical needs of its war fighters at speed [1:06] and at scale is the foundation upon which its deterrence [1:09] and survival rests. [1:11] However, upon taking office on January 20th, 2025, [1:16] President Trump inherited a defense industrial base [1:18] that had been hollowed out by years of America last policies, [1:23] resulting in a diminished capacity to project strength. [1:27] Under the previous administration, we were offshoring, [1:29] outsourcing, beset by cost overruns, and degraded capabilities. [1:36] But under the leadership of President Trump, our builder-in-chief, [1:39] we are reversing this systemic decay and putting our defense industrial base [1:43] back on a wartime footing. [1:46] Urgency informs everything we do. [1:49] We're rebuilding a military that the American people can be proud of, [1:52] one that instills nothing less than unrelenting fear in our adversaries [1:56] and inspires historic morale and recruiting in its ranks. [2:01] We fight to win in every scenario. [2:04] The $1.5 trillion budget put forward by the President will build upon a previous $1 trillion [2:10] FY26 top line and will continue to reverse the four years of underinvestment and mismanagement [2:17] of the Biden administration. [2:18] The $1.5 trillion budget will ensure that the United States continues to maintain [2:23] the world's most powerful and capable military as we grapple with a complex threat environment [2:29] across multiple theaters. [2:32] Not to mention, the budget also includes a historic troop pay increase, [2:37] 7% for junior enlisted, and the budget eliminates all poor or failing barracks. [2:44] Quality of life for our troops is front and center in this budget. [2:49] By supercharging our defense industrial capacity and transforming how the department does business, [2:54] we are restoring American commercial dominance at a pace unseen in generations, transforming [3:00] the defense industrial base from the broken, slow-moving systems of the past. [3:06] We have flipped the Pentagon acquisition process from a bureaucratic model to a business model, [3:12] decisively moving from an acquisitions environment paralyzed by bureaucratic red tape into an outcomes-driven [3:19] organization focus on delivering the most for taxpayer dollars. [3:25] Over the past year, through historic multi-year procurement agreements that this committee supported, [3:31] we have cut smart business deals that have sent unambiguous demand signals to industry to [3:37] build more and build faster. [3:40] The result has been a surge, a revitalization of our great American factories and a massive reinvestment [3:47] in the skilled American workers who serve as the industrial muscle behind our warriors. [4:07] Further interruptions of our hearing will be treated in like manner. [4:13] We appreciate the First Amendment rights of Americans to express themselves, but disruption of this hearing [4:23] will not be tolerated. [4:24] So, Mr. Secretary, you may continue. [4:26] I'll briefly provide some concrete high-level metrics of what we've accomplished over just [4:31] the past few months. [4:33] These are announced new facilities and investments to support American warfighters. [4:38] The department has helped stimulate more than 250 private investment deals in 39 states, [4:44] 180 cities, and 150 companies worth more than $50 billion. [4:50] This resulted in 280 new or expanded facilities, more than 18 million new square feet of American [4:57] manufacturing, and more than 70,000 new jobs. [5:01] These $50 billion in investments in new plants, new assembly lines, and new factories are private [5:08] investments, not taxpayer dollars. [5:11] By completely transforming our department's business model, American companies are investing [5:16] in America with their own dollars. [5:19] A historic demonstration of American manufacturing and defense revitalization, all with their [5:24] money, not Uncle Sam's. [5:27] This has never been done before and is long overdue from a bureaucratic model to a business model. [5:35] These investments equal great things for America, for American families, and American workers, [5:40] to ensure that our warfighters have everything they need, all American-made. [5:45] Together with the help of the policy updates and appropriations passed by Congress, President [5:50] Trump's War Department has begun to turn the lights back on in our manufacturing towns across [5:55] this country, forging a lethal arsenal of freedom. [6:00] Every policy we pursue, every budgetary item we request, serves to ensure that this department [6:04] remains laser-focused on increasing lethality and survivability from the front lines to the [6:11] factory floor. [6:12] This is a historic budget, as you said, Mr. Chairman. [6:16] This is a fiscally responsible budget, and this is a warfighting budget. [6:22] Speaking of warfighting, the topic of Iran, I'm sure, will come up often today, which I [6:27] welcome. [6:28] I look forward to sharing the incredible success of our military effort achieved in a matter [6:33] of weeks. [6:35] President Trump has the courage, has had, unlike other presidents, to ensure that Iran never [6:40] gets a nuclear weapon, and that their nuclear blackmail never succeeds, with the best negotiator [6:48] in the world driving a great deal. [6:51] Unfortunately, as I said yesterday, and I'll say it again today, the biggest adversary we [6:57] face at this point are the reckless naysayers and defeatist words of Congressional Democrats [7:03] and some Republicans, defeatists from the cheap seats who, two months in, seek to undermine [7:11] the incredible efforts that have been undertaken, and the historic nature of taking on a 47-year [7:16] threat with the courage no other president has had, to great success and great opportunity [7:22] for preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon. [7:27] Despite this, under President Trump, we are restoring the unbreakable might of American manufacturing. [7:32] We're providing for our warfighters, and we are putting the people and interests of this [7:36] country first. [7:39] May Almighty God continue to watch over our troops wherever they are, and may we honor [7:44] the legacy of those brave Americans that we have lost. [7:48] This is our sacred mission, and this is what we will continue to execute on. [7:53] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [7:54] Thank you for that statement, Mr. Secretary. [7:56] There is an issue ofbelief, and some of those pictures will be included in the world. [8:10] Thank you for testing. [8:14] This is the duty to enter a plot which is able to communicate [8:17] the hypothetically, and I think, and I do hold you for a recognition.