Sen. Mark Kelly tells Trump to submit defense budget that ‘makes sense’
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) criticized the Trump administration’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal 2027 as “outrageous,” arguing the White House should submit a plan that better fits the current moment. He noted the defense budget would be roughly twice what it was when he entered the Senate about 5½ years ago, saying it approaches the level of combined defense spending by the rest of the world.
Kelly also commented that parts of the proposal-such as “Golden Dome,” which he described as technically extremely challenging-likely would result in spending large sums without delivering working systems, and that some items may not be necessary. The proposed budget, released in late April, represents a $500 billion increase over the $1 trillion figure for 2026 and is the largest such request in history, but it does not include costs related to the Iran war.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) called the Trump administration’s proposed defense budget “outrageous” and said the White House needs to back a proposal “that makes sense for the moment we’re in.”
“The $1.5 trillion request from this administration, it’s outrageous,” Kelly said. “When I got to the Senate 5 1/2 years ago, the defense budget was just over $700 billion. Now they’re asking for twice as much money. It’s nearly the amount that the rest of the world pays for its defense.”
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The Department of Defense released President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal for fiscal 2027 in late April, marking a $500 billion increase from the $1 trillion budgeted in 2026 and the largest proposal in history. The budget does not include the costs of the Iran war. In an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation, Kelly did not explicitly say he would not support the budget, but certainly appeared to lean that way.
“There’s stuff in there, like the Golden Dome — the physics on that stuff is really, really hard. I’m very confident we’re going to spend a lot of money, and we’re going to get a system that doesn’t work. There are other things in there we do not need. They need to submit a defense budget that makes sense for the moment we’re in,” Kelly said.
$1.5 TRILLION NATIONAL DEFENSE BUDGET DOES NOT INCLUDE IRAN WAR COSTS
The Arizona senator and retired U.S. Navy captain has feuded with the Trump administration since the start of the president’s second term. He is currently in active litigation against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after the Pentagon leader attempted to reduce Kelly’s military rank over a video Kelly made, urging military members to ignore “illegal orders.”
The administration’s $1.5 trillion budget proposal includes funding for the Golden Dome, a Golden Fleet, raises for service members, and a 44,000-troop increase.
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