Overview

• Hegseth returned to the Senate Armed Services Committee for his final scheduled hearing and faced tough questioning from lawmakers
• Committee members pressed him on sharing sensitive military plans over an unclassified Signal chat that is under investigation by the Pentagon watchdog
• He defended the U.S. repositioning of refueling tankers and fighter aircraft to the Middle East as a defensive posture to safeguard American personnel and interests
• Senators criticized his leadership decisions, including the firing of top military leaders and funding shifts from troop housing to border security
• Lawmakers reproached him for withholding details on the Trump administration’s first proposed defense budget, which President Trump has estimated at $1 trillion