SIMI VALLEY, California— Last summer’s $156 billion one-time boost for defense spending through the reconciliation bill is likely “only just the beginning,” the defense secretary said on Saturday.

“The President has said, and continues to say, he's committed to rebuilding the military, and that requires spending, and substantial spending,” Pete Hegseth said during his keynote address at the Reagan National Defense Forum Saturday. “Just this week, and I was with some of you, was there in the Oval [Office] having these very discussions about FY26 and FY27. And all I can say today is the President is committed to ensuring that our services, our great companies, our industries, have what is needed.”

That funding, he said, will be key to “supercharging” the defense industry—one of the Pent

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