Sen. Collins Convenes Hearing to Assess Administration’s Supplemental

07.21.26

Sen. Collins’ Opening Statement

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Q&A on Need for Supplemental Defense Funding

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Q&A on Need for Farm Aid

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Washington, D.C. — At a hearing to review the Administration’s supplemental budget funding request, U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Appropriations Committee, evaluated the need for disaster aid, relief to American farmers, and additional defense funding to ensure military readiness as adversaries align intelligence and combat capabilities against the United States.

 

Sen. Collins also pressed Sec. Hegseth on reports that the Pentagon disproportionately fired or sidelined women and people of color, stressing that the U.S. military must remain “one of the greatest meritocracies in the free world.”

 

Sen. Collins’ Opening Statement:

 

“Before we begin, I want to recognize the American soldiers who recently made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our nation. We extend our deepest condolences to their families, loved ones, and fellow service members, and we honor their courage, dedication, and sacrifice. Their service is a solemn reminder that the men and women of our Armed Forces continue to stand watch in dangerous places around the world on our behalf.

 

“Let me begin by expressing my appreciation to Senators Rounds, Budd, and Padilla for appearing before the committee today to talk about urgent needs facing their states. I also welcome Secretary Hegseth, Secretary Rollins, and General Caine, and thank them for joining us to discuss the President’s supplemental funding request.

 

“Our country has many urgent supplemental funding needs.

 

“For many agricultural producers, 2025 was a year in which the cost of growing their crop at times exceeded what they could earn from selling it. Severe weather compounded these losses. This was the case for many growers in Maine. Our wild blueberry growers and apple producers had to contend with a combination of challenging market conditions, an excessively rainy spring that prevented pollenization, and drought conditions in the summer and fall.

 

“I expect that we will hear a great deal today about how declining commodity prices, rising input costs, labor shortages, trade disruptions, pests and disease, and increasingly volatile weather are squeezing farmers’ already thin margins.

 

“Nationwide, we have lost nearly 200,000 farms in the last decade. In Maine alone, more than 500 closed between 2017 and 2022, according to the most recent Census of Agriculture. Our farmers are part of the fabric of America’s rural communities, and they need help to survive.

 

“USDA has said that additional short-term assistance is needed to help producers weather these extraordinary conditions while long-term improvements take hold. I look forward to today’s discussion and making sure that any assistance provided is structured to meet the needs of both row and specialty crop producers, such as we have in Maine.

 

“We will also hear today about the ongoing recovery needs of communities in Western North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, as well as communities in California – and I suspect other states too – that are still working to rebuild after being hit by devastating wildfires. A supplemental funding package should address the needs of these communities as they recover from natural disasters. I appreciate the Administration’s statement that it is “open to discussing additional relief for other urgent matters.” There is strong interest from members on both sides of the aisle in discussing additional relief.

 

“Turning now to the defense request, I look forward to hearing from our Department of Defense witnesses as to why the supplemental funding is critical to support our service members and protect America’s national security.

 

“There are divergent views on this Committee about the decision to use military force against Iran. The Senate as a body has taken numerous votes on these issues and will likely continue to do so.

 

“Irrespective of our differing views about the military operations themselves, the fact remains that there are must-pay bills and urgent requirements facing the Department that affect the ability of the U.S. military to deter and defend against potential aggressors worldwide.

 

“I would note that some of the requirements – such as munitions shortfalls – have been well known to the Committee for some time, and prior to the conflict with Iran, there had been bipartisan support to address them. While these munitions shortfalls have been years in the making, they are increasingly urgent.

 

“We should not undermine the readiness of our service members for this engagement or refuse to rebuild critical capabilities depleted during this campaign. Our men and women in uniform do not decide where they are sent or the missions they are assigned. Congress has a responsibility to ensure they have the tools, training, and support they need to accomplish those missions.

 

“On the topic of our service members, I note that since January of last year, the Department has removed a number of senior generals and admirals from their positions, blocked or altered promotion lists across multiple services, and intervened in several senior assignments. A recent New York Times article reported that about 40 senior officers were removed from promotion lists and more than two dozen generals and admirals were fired or sidelined, including Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead the Navy. The Times further reports that more than half of those fired or removed have been female or Black and that for the first time in more than a decade, no active-duty female Navy officers are likely to be promoted to Admiral.

 

“These are men and women who volunteered to serve our country and swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Over the course of their careers, they earned the trust of their commanders and subordinates, led our men and women in uniform, and were selected through rigorous command and promotion boards. They have served under Presidents and Secretaries of Defense from both parties, carrying out orders regardless of politics.

 

“Reports that women and people of color are disproportionately fired or sidelined create the impression that their service is not valued. This will discourage well-qualified women and people of color from joining our Armed Forces, thus depriving us of their talent, dedication, and patriotism. The United States military is one of the greatest meritocracies in the free world, and we need to make sure it stays that way.”

 

Q&A on Need for Supplemental Defense Funding

 

Sen. Collins: Secretary Hegseth, General Caine, members on both sides of the aisle have questions about the authorization strategy, objectives, and conduct of operations in the Middle East. Regardless of our differing views, the fact remains that there are must-pay bills and urgent requirements facing the Department that affect the ability of our military to deter and defend against potential aggression worldwide.

 

Portions of the supplemental request go toward paying these bills and are necessary to restore readiness, repair or replace battle damage to aircraft, ships or bases, and address urgent munitions challenges. I understand and am told that some military services face near-term solvency challenges. What will be the impact on our troops if additional funding is not provided?

 

Are there military exercises, for example, that are at risk of cancellation? What message would we be sending to the world, Secretary Hegseth, either you or General Caine?

 

Sec. Hegseth: Chairwoman, I very much appreciate that question, and it's because it's connected to the real-world realities of this budget cycle. There is training right now, and training in the future that would have to be curtailed if we do not get our budget needs met and met urgently. And yes, some of that has to do with the current budget cycle and how things come together.

 

But we are a Department that, for four years, met funding shortfalls under the previous administration. It was not a priority to fund the Department of Defense under Joe Biden. It also took the munitions, and there were five supplementals out of this committee that took munitions one for one and sent them to Ukraine and had tried to replace them with the same bureaucratic process that was too slow and didn't replace them in real time. And then there were threats that were ignored around the world. So you're looking at a lot of negligence and a lot of deferred maintenance that this department is having to catch up on, and so that's why I call this a generational investment.

 

It truly is. This is 1.5 trillion-dollar budget with this supplemental being part of it, is how we catch up and get ahead, and ensure in the process we're putting soldiers and sailors and airmen first, Marines first, Guardians. That their pay increases, that the end strength increases that have gone up because recruiting is at historic levels, are fully funded. So rather than trying to play catch-up and make sure we're not losing training, we should be ahead of that curve, and that's where we think 1.5 trillion can get us.

 

Q&A on Need for Farm Aid

 

Sen. Collins: Secretary Rollins, as we heard from the previous panel, our country has many outstanding recovery needs from disasters and other weather-related events over the past two years. As this chart shows, and this is a chart from your department, many have unmet weather-related agricultural losses.

 

In Maine, many of our producers are struggling amid a combination of market volatility and disaster conditions last year, which included excessive rainfall in the spring, followed by a severe drought. They need relief. Yet the administration's supplemental request does not include funding to address these recovery needs. It does have 1.1 billion to help Florida agricultural producers rebound from a severe freeze this past winter, but nothing for prior disasters in other states. Can you explain USDA's thinking behind focusing your request just on the 2026 freeze rather than on the 2025 disaster declarations that you made?

 

Sec. Rollins: Yes, Senator, thank you for that question. Obviously, the discussions that went on over at OMB and with our teams continue. But what I will say is we are obviously 100 percent in support of any sort of disaster relief program for our farmers, whether it's hurricane, tornado, drought, freeze, etc.

 

So look forward to working with you on that, and specifically understanding the larger context here, that there's a lot of farmers, a lot of producers who are really hurting, not just in Florida, and not just from the freeze. So it's important that we work together to solve for that.

 

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