{"id":49640,"date":"2026-08-11T11:47:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T18:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=49640"},"modified":"2026-08-11T11:47:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T18:47:24","slug":"hegseth-honor-lindsey-graham-by-giving-pentagon-1-5-trillion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/08\/11\/hegseth-honor-lindsey-graham-by-giving-pentagon-1-5-trillion\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth: Honor Lindsey Graham by Giving Pentagon $1.5 Trillion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Key<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Key federal officials attended the renaming ceremony for Joint Base Lindsey Graham in South Carolina on August 10, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by DOW Rapid Response\/X.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLindsey himself said to me, in his office, \u2018This is the best military budget I\u2019ve seen since I\u2019ve been in Congress,\u2019\u201d the Pentagon chief claimed.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aug 10, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth \u201ccan\u2019t persuade Republicans to back his big budget<\/a>,\u201d but that didn\u2019t stop him from pushing<\/a> the $1.5 trillion proposal during a Monday event to rename Joint Base Charleston after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Graham, who served in the Air Force, unexpectedly died<\/a> last month, critics remembered<\/a> the South Carolina Republican as someone who \u201cnever met a war he didn\u2019t want to send your kids to,\u201d as well as \u201ca bloodthirsty bastard who cheered the killing of Muslims and sold his soul to the fascists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On Monday, Hegseth\u2014who deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq\u2014fondly recalled meeting<\/a> with Graham while part of the group Vets for Freedom. Joined<\/a> at the base by the senator\u2019s replacement, his sister Darline Graham, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is from South Carolina, the Pentagon<\/a> chief declared<\/a> that \u201cit falls to us to complete the work that Lindsey Graham began and advocated for for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs we gather here today, the War Department is seeking a historic, generational investment of $1.5 trillion for America\u2019s warriors, and Lindsey himself said to me, in his office, \u2018This is the best military budget<\/a> I\u2019ve seen since I\u2019ve been in Congress,\u2019\u201d Hegseth claimed, using President Donald Trump\u2019s preferred name for the Department of Defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis department pays tribute to Lindsey Graham in the naming of this base, but there could be no greater tribute than for Congress to give and invest in our warriors for the full $1.5 trillion,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GOP<\/a> narrowly controls both chambers of Congress, but as Politico reported<\/a> just hours before the event, \u201cHegseth hasn\u2019t persuaded Republicans<\/a> to steamroll Democrats and advance the record-breaking plan, despite regularly trekking to the Hill in recent weeks and hobnobbing with lawmakers. Instead, an increasingly vocal group of GOP lawmakers argue the administration hasn\u2019t explained why Republicans should burn valuable political capital in pursuit of Trump\u2019s vision\u2014especially with the midterms just months away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeveral top Republicans are skeptical<\/a> about the Trump administration\u2019s two-track approach to clinching $1.5 trillion. This relies on the GOP using the partisan reconciliation process\u2014which allows the majority to bypass Democrats entirely\u2014to provide $350 billion, the bulk of the increase,\u201d the outlet detailed. The Republican majority \u201chas\u2014mostly\u2014had Hegseth\u2019s back\u201d since the battle to confirm him<\/a>, despite widely condemned bombings of boats allegedly trafficking drugs on the high seas and the ongoing war on Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth on Monday shared some supposed details from his last meeting with Graham, who chaired the Senate Budget Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. Secretary, what do you need for a reconciliation?\u201d Graham said, according to Hegseth. \u201cI said: \u2018Well, in total, sir, we\u2019re going to need $350 billion for our military. That\u2019s what we believe gets us to $1.5 trillion\u2014$115 [billion] in the base budget, $350 [billion] in reconciliation, and we\u2019ll be ready.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe looked at me and said, \u2018How\u2019s $355 [billion] sound to you?\u2019 He wanted to give even more than $350 [billion],\u201d Hegseth continued. \u201cI saw firsthand as a young first lieutenant, as a captain in a combat zone, and as a secretary, the unwavering commitment of Lindsey Graham.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth\u2019s recounting of their meeting isn\u2019t the first time Graham\u2019s pro-war ideology has been highlighted since he died. As Common Dreams reported<\/a> late last month, footage filmed for a documentary that was in the works shows the then-senator joyfully reacting to Trump\u2019s Iran War. He said: \u201cI almost cried. I mean, like, how long have we been pushing this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to the release of that footage, Brian Finucane, senior adviser to the US Program at the International Crisis Group, said that \u201cthe warmonger got his wish and the result has been a catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Key federal officials attended the renaming ceremony for Joint Base Lindsey Graham in South Carolina on August 10, 2026. \u00a0(Photo by DOW Rapid Response\/X.com) \u201cLindsey himself said to me, in his office, \u2018This is the best military budget I\u2019ve seen since I\u2019ve been in Congress,\u2019\u201d the Pentagon chief claimed. Jessica… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2359],"tags":[1908,2360],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49640"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49641,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49640\/revisions\/49641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}