Pete Hegseth's Tribute to Lindsey Graham Came With a $1.5 Trillion Appeal

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a ceremony renaming Joint Base Charleston after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham to press lawmakers for a major Pentagon budget. Speaking at the event, he urged Congress to approve a $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget request, calling it a “historic generational investment.” The base will now be known as Joint Base Lindsey Graham. Hegseth said Graham, who died last month after an aortic dissection, told him in Graham’s office that it was “the best military budget” he’d seen since serving in Congress. He framed the funding as a fitting tribute and contrasted it with last year’s roughly $800 million allocation, plus an additional $150 billion from separate legislation. The proposal arrives amid skepticism among Republicans as the U.S. continues months of war with Iran.