U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went toe-to-toe with Kentucky GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell during a tense Senate Appropriations hearing Tuesday.

The back-and-forth heated up quickly after McConnell asked about the Trump administration’s plans to fund key parts of the Pentagon’s $1.5 billion budget request.

McConnell snidely accused Trump of alienating U.S. allies amid several major world conflicts.

McConnell is also on the verge of being replaced in the Senate by a pro-Trump ally.

McConnell objected to putting crucial Pentagon programs – such as the Golden Dome missile defense system, munitions, the F-35 fighter jet, and drone production – in a reconciliation bill separate from the annual defense appropriations bill.

“Political realities will not always allow a party-line budget reconciliation, and if the department’s top priorities aren’t built into annual appropriations, we’re actually taking a big risk,” McConnell said.

McConnell added, “These key lines of effort only work if we put them on solid fiscal footing.”

The Trump administration intends to finance its $1.1 trillion Pentagon budget for fiscal year 2027 with a regular appropriations request and an additional $350 billion through reconciliation, a mechanism that enables the current Republican majority to override any Democratic objections.

But McConnell said that approach is shaky given that the GOP could lose its majority in the November elections.

Other Republicans have also been skeptical about their ability to pass a third budget reconciliation package this autumn after using their second opportunity with the procedure on a narrowly tailored bill to fund immigration enforcement.

House appropriators highlighted similar worries about the structure of the Pentagon budget earlier Tuesday when Hegseth sat for several hours, testifying before the members.

McConnell also slammed President Trump for alienating longstanding U.S. friends, including for NATO and protecting Ukraine.

Trump earlier this month declared he would recall 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany and promised further measures in an ongoing disagreement with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The president has repeatedly scolded U.S. partners for failing to join the fight in Iran or help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, labeling the countries “cowards” and hinting at threats to take Washington out of the NATO military alliance.

Strained relationships with U.S. partners and allies “only serves our adversaries’ interests and limits our capacity and deterrent power globally,” McConnell told Hegseth.

“I want to hear about the future of capacity building with committed allies and partners,” he added.

McConnell has been a major advocate for the $400 million Congress set aside for Ukraine at the start of the year, calling out the Pentagon for withholding the funds in an April 28 editorial.

“I want to underscore this is not charity. When our partners are capable, deterrence is stronger, and the risk to our own service members is lower,” McConnell said Tuesday.

“Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East clearly show we that have things to learn from our friends.”

WATCH:

The top three Republican candidates running to replace McConnell took the stage last month at the Henry Clay event center in downtown Louisville for the first Republican primary debate.

McConnell, a Republican who has represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate since 1985, announced earlier this year that he won’t seek reelection in 2026 after more than 40 years in office, creating the first open Senate seat in the state in years.

Rep. Andy Barr, former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and businessman Nate Morris are facing off in the Republican primary, which is among this year’s most competitive.

The GOP hopefuls all support President Donald Trump, hoping to land his endorsement in a state that Trump overwhelmingly carried in the past three presidential elections.

The debate offered voters an opportunity to hear the candidates discuss their positions on key issues and outline their priorities as the Republican primary campaign ramps up.

Acting AG Blanche Fires Back at Obama’s DOJ Criticism

Posted July 21, 2026

Former President Barack Obama sharply criticized the Trump administration this week over what he described as growing political influence inside the United States Department of Justice, prompting an aggressive response from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defending both the administration’s prosecutions and President Donald Trump’s authority over the executive branch.

The escalating public dispute comes as the Justice Department faces mounting scrutiny over a series of criminal investigations and indictments involving several longtime Trump critics and political adversaries, including former FBI Director James Comey.

Obama raised the issue during an interview with Stephen Colbert on CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that aired Monday night.

“The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever,” Obama said during the interview. “The idea is that the attorney general is the people’s lawyer. It’s not the president’s consigliere.”

Obama suggested the principle of DOJ independence may ultimately need to be codified into law by Congress, arguing that the justice system risks becoming politicized if presidents are perceived as directly targeting political opponents through federal prosecutions.

The comments immediately triggered pushback from the Trump administration.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson accused Obama of hypocrisy, arguing that his administration played a central role in the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.

“Barack Hussein Obama is the king of weaponization,” Jackson said in a statement, referencing declassified documents related to the FBI’s Russia probe.

But the administration’s most extensive response came Wednesday from Blanche during an interview with CBS News in Phoenix.

Blanche forcefully rejected accusations that the DOJ is engaged in political retaliation and defended the president’s constitutional authority over the executive branch.

“Article Two says, ‘the executive power shall be vested in the President of the United States of America,’” Blanche said while holding a pocket copy of the Constitution during the interview. “It does not say that the Attorney General stands off to the side.”

Blanche emphasized that the attorney general serves within the executive branch and argued that presidents are fully entitled to direct priorities involving law enforcement, immigration, drugs, and national security.

“To the extent that President Trump calls me and says that he thinks we have a problem in this country, whether it’s the scourge of drugs, illegal immigration, every American wants him to do that,” Blanche said. “And he should.”

The acting attorney general also dismissed accusations that the DOJ is pursuing politically motivated cases against Trump critics.

“We are absolutely doing nothing but what we should be doing at the Department of Justice,” Blanche said. “I wake up with a very clean conscience every morning.”

The public clash comes amid multiple high-profile investigations involving Trump adversaries.

Most notably, Comey was recently indicted after prosecutors alleged a 2025 Instagram post featuring seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47” constituted a threat against Trump, the 47th president. Prosecutors argue “86” is commonly understood slang meaning “to eliminate” or “get rid of.”

Blanche defended the case, arguing threats against the president must be treated seriously given recent assassination attempts and escalating political extremism.

Last year, Trump publicly urged then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue prosecutions against Comey, James, and Sen. Adam Schiff, writing on social media that “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED.”

Blanche declined to discuss private conversations with Trump when asked whether the president personally directed prosecutions.

“But rest assured,” Blanche said, “he has much better, bigger and important things to do than to worry about me doing my job.”

Blanche also turned Democrats’ criticism back against them by pointing to the multiple criminal prosecutions Trump himself faced before returning to office, including cases brought by state prosecutors in New York and Georgia as well as federal investigations overseen by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

“So I welcome criticism. Let’s go,” Blanche said. “But if you’re sitting in a glass house, you ought not throw stones.”