He said the U.S. defense industrial base had been weakened by years of offshoring and outsourcing and has faced repeated cost overruns. Hegseth said the administration is working to restore it to what he called a wartime footing.
“[This] budget will ensure the United States continues to maintain the world’s most powerful and capable military, as we grapple with a complex threat environment across multiple theaters,” Hegseth said.
The proposal includes pay raises for military personnel, with a 7% increase for service members ranked E-5 and below, a 6% increase for personnel in grades E-6 through O-3, and a 5% increase for members ranked O-4 and above. It also calls for the elimination of all poor or failing barracks.
“Quality of life for our troops is front and center in this budget,” Hegseth said. “We have flipped the Pentagon acquisition process from a bureaucratic model to a business model 180 [degrees], decisively moving from an acquisition environment — paralyzed by bureaucratic red tape — into an outcomes-driven organization, focused on delivering the most at cost [and] at scale for taxpayer dollars.”
Hegseth said the changes would be supported through multiyear procurement agreements and what he described as smarter business arrangements for critical munitions and military capabilities. He said the department has sent a clear signal to defense contractors to accelerate production.
“We’ve sent an unambiguous demand signal to industry partners to build more and build faster. The result has been a surge, a revitalization of our great factories and a massive reinvestment in the skilled American workers who serve as the industrial muscle behind our warriors,” he said.
Hegseth also said U.S. companies are investing domestic capital into American manufacturing efforts, which he described as unprecedented and overdue. He said the administration’s broader strategy is aimed at strengthening both military readiness and domestic industry.
“We are firing up the American economic engine, and at every level of our defense industrial base. Every policy we pursue, every budgetary item we request, serves to ensure the department remains laser-focused on increasing lethality and survivability of our forces from the front lines to the factory floors,” Hegseth said.
Air Force General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also testified before the committee and said the department requires stable and sustained funding. He said the proposed budget is essential to modernizing the military and ensuring preparedness for future threats.
Caine echoed Hegseth’s remarks on rebuilding the defense industrial base to maintain military readiness. “I have the absolute trust in the extraordinary men and women who come and volunteer to serve our nation within our joint force. They execute the missions quietly every day and, coupled with the American spirit, out-think, out-compete and relentlessly innovate,” Caine said.
