Hegseth scheduled to appear before Congress

(Editor's note: This story has been updated with new date information.)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is slated to appear before the House Armed Services Committee the week of June 12.

The committee would not confirm that Hegseth would testify that week but a government official said it would be the week of June 12, possibly that day.

The official also said Hegseth would appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee the week of June 17 (possibly on June 18), though the committee did not respond to a request to confirm.

Hegseth is meant to appear to discuss the fiscal year 2026 defense budget request, though it has yet to be submitted to Congress.

A “skinny budget” was released last month highlighting topline amounts, with DOD requesting the same budget that Congress enacted for FY-25 but planning for a $120 billion increase by relying on separate budget reconciliation legislation -- the “Big Beautiful Bill” -- that has not yet passed and is running into opposition.

Several senior GOP lawmakers, including both chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services committees, have voiced disproval over the Trump administration’s FY-26 approach and have said they will seek to increase defense spending through regular appropriations legislation.

It is unclear if the budget request will be released by the time Hegseth appears before Congress, but the House Appropriations Committee has scheduled a hearing for June 13 to begin marking up its version of the FY-26 defense spending bill.

Meanwhile, congressional Democrats, who are frequent critics of Hegseth, are likely to question the defense secretary about his role in the “Signalgate” controversy as well as the previous chaos surrounding his team of advisers.

Lawmakers are also likely to question Hegseth about his decision to slash civilian jobs, including at the office of the director of operational test and evaluation, which provides independent performance reviews to Congress of the Pentagon largest weapon systems.