Sen. Tim Kaine says Congress will ‘have a hard time’ reviewing Trump’s military budget request

Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, expressed skepticism Sunday about the Trump administration’s 2027 budget plan, which includes a $1.5 trillion request from Congress to fund the Department of Defense, a 44% increase over the amount allocated to that agency for this year.

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“I have a hard time seeing such an increase as justified,” Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

The senator added that he and other committee members would “look at it” over the coming weeks.

Part of his doubts, Kaine said, stem from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision last week to oust Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, Chief of Chaplains Maj. Gen. William Green and Army Transformation and Training Command commanding general David Hodne.

“Here’s a question we have to ask: It’s not just about dollars, it’s about the Pentagon’s management of money,” the Virginia senator said. “You just saw the Secretary of Defense fire highly respected leaders in the military in the middle of a war – leaders respected on both sides of the aisle in both chambers, and one deeply wonders why.”

“I don’t think Congress will be in the mood to write a blank check to a leadership team, a civilian leadership team that seems so incompetent these days,” Kaine added.

When asked if he was against the president’s budget request, Kaine told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker that he still had to review the details of the budget request and participate in upcoming hearings on the request with the Armed Services Committee.

“It goes without saying that we have a lot of questions to ask and the administration has a lot of explaining to do,” he added.

The Virginia senator also called the ongoing war “unlawful and reckless” and called on Congress to pass a formal declaration of war.

Appearing later on the show, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., also expressed skepticism that Congress would be able to meet the entire military budget request.

“The administration has released its budget. These will not be the final budget or appropriations numbers,” Lawler told “Meet the Press,” adding, “we will continue to ensure that our armed forces have the resources they need to conduct military operations.”

Lawler also spoke about the ongoing conflict in Iran, questioning whether it would be necessary to put U.S. troops on the ground at some point and pushing back against Kaine’s use of the term “illegal” to describe the war.

“I think the question about putting troops on the ground would be for what purpose? And I think the only purpose I see would be to get enriched uranium,” the New York congressman told Welker. “And I think that’s something that needs to be discussed with Congress in a confidential setting, and I think Congress should be briefed on this particular issue.”

Then Lawler accused Kaine and other Democrats of “putting the American people under tension.”

He added: “I want to go back to something that Senator Kaine said: This is not an illegal military operation. The President has full authority to conduct this military operation, the War Powers Resolution and the War Powers Resolution which gives him 60 to 90 days to conduct such an operation, and Congress was legally notified within 48 hours of the initial incursions.