House Democratic appropriators and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traded barbs Tuesday over the deployment of U.S. military forces to California in an often contentious hearing that ultimately yielded few new details about what lawmakers were ostensibly present to discuss: the fiscal 2026 budget request.

While the hearing was technically labeled as an oversight meeting, it came just hours before the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee was slated to mark up Republicans’ $831.5 billion bill to fund the Pentagon next year — legislation that was drafted without customary access to extensive programmatic details lawmakers typically rely on to craft their plans.

Though Hegseth and other DOD officials did disclose information about some planned investments, it was often unclear whether th

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