McConnell Remarks at SAC-D FY27 Army Budget Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, delivered the following opening statement at today's hearing, "A Review of the President's Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request for the Army":

I want to start by acknowledging the men and women of the U.S. Army working every day to defend America and confront our adversaries. Their jobs are dangerous but essential. And the sacrifices of the 272 soldiers wounded and the seven who gave their lives in Operation Epic Fury will not be forgotten.

They are, of course, only the latest servicemembers to be killed by Iran in its decades-long war against America. But, God willing, they will be the last.

This subcommittee's job is to make sure that the soldiers under your command are equipped to deter and, if necessary, defeat threats to our global interests, wherever they arise. And the substantial increase to topline spending in the FY27 request gives us an opportunity to make overdue progress.

But, as I've said before, what happens under that topline matters a great deal. The amount we're willing to invest in stable, robust, year-on-year appropriations is what will determine the Army's readiness for strategic competition with peer adversaries, its ability to adapt to modern warfare, and even its magazine depth for conflict of any scale.

This is where I need to offer a few words of caution, and where I know a number of my colleagues will have questions.

The reliance of this budget request on one-time reconciliation spending is a risky approach to funding the joint force.

And the Army's budget illustrates the risks pretty clearly:

A majority of the funds the Army requires for critical munitions have been requested by OMB as mandatory spending instead of base discretionary spending.

$24 billion of the $36 billion the Army spends on replenishing stocks of precision fires and interceptors would come as a one-time slug of cash, if reconciliation passes at all.

These funds would have no protection against the short-term continuing resolutions that have become the norm at the beginning of each fiscal year.

Munitions are now ostensibly a top priority of this Administration. And the Deputy Secretary has rightly devoted enormous attention and resources to the problem - one we should all know took many years to create and will take years of consistent funding to solve…

…And yet, barely a third of total munitions investments required by the Army are built into the full-year base budget.

For all the talk about sending a clear demand signal to industry, this strikes me as an unnecessary risk.

And I'll need to hear more from you about how this approach can possibly align with the long-term task ahead of us on restoring the munitions industrial base in America.

The nature of modern warfare is changing, and recent events in the Middle East suggest the U.S. military may not be adapting as quickly as necessary. That said, I appreciate the Army's efforts to identify and apply lessons learned from Ukraine and the Middle East.

Mr. Secretary, I appreciate your willingness to call it like you see it. And I think you were absolutely right to identify the battlefield innovation taking place in Ukraine as "the Silicon Valley of warfare".

Likewise, Members of this subcommittee were recently briefed by General Chris Donahue and Lieutenant General Curtis Buzzard.

It was clear that they, too, understand the path to drone dominance runs through partnership with the world's foremost experts in drone warfare, the Ukrainians.

This fact is so clear that it's difficult to understand why more senior officials at the Pentagon, particularly those directly responsible for Ukraine policy or military modernization, haven't followed the example you and General George set back in November by actually seeing this battle lab of tactical, technical, and industrial innovation firsthand in Ukraine.

Regrettably, General George was recently fired and I understand both of these innovating, reform-minded combat veterans are set to retire.

It's pretty clear to me that America doesn't stand to gain from opting out of the latest battlefield lessons… or the sort of cooperation with Ukraine on drone technology that our allies in the Gulf are urgently embracing.

And making modest investments in this cooperation to ensure that U.S. soldiers have access to the latest battle-proven lessons and technology as they forge new doctrine seems like money well-spent.

That's why I'm concerned that the vast majority of the funds the Department requested for drone and counter-drone capabilities would come in the form of one-off reconciliation.

If adapting to this reality of modern warfare is a priority - as Department leaders say it is - then we ought to prove it by making room in the full-year base budget.

I'll want to hear from you about how the Army values ties with capable partners in Ukraine… and about what our troops get out of engagement with frontline NATO allies, as well.

These relationships repay U.S. investments and then some. But they're under unnecessary strain. Threats to allies like Denmark and surprise force posture changes that affect model host allies like Poland are self-defeating.

Mr. Secretary, General LaNeve - I'll look forward to hearing your views on these and other topics.

Permalink: https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2026/5/mcconnell-remarks-at-sac-d-fy27-army-budget-hearing