Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Caine testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee to seek $67.1 billion in supplemental money for the war and other DoD expenses, such as munitions, drones and the Army and National Guard deployments to the southern U.S. border and Washington, D.C.

Given that the department has $75 billion in its coffers from the $156 billion it received last year in reconciliation funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill, senators voiced skepticism over the emergency request.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the committee’s top Democrat, said the committee would not “rubber stamp a request to bankroll this war,” given that the DoD received more than $1 trillion in funding last year and has requested $1.3 trillion this year.

“The president’s request is not even a primarily a request to cover the costs of the Iran war. This request is chock full of asks to fund unrelated DoD priorities, which should be considered through our annual appropriations process, not in an emergency supplemental,” the senator said.

Similarly, Sen. Kristin Gillibrand, D-N.Y., asked how to convey the DoD’s needs when constituents have seen gas prices, food and other household expenses rise.

“You’re asking for $1.5 trillion, unlimited money for bombs, but insufficient money for the American people for their healthcare, their food, their housing,” Gillibrand said.

Hegseth said the new funding is needed to support operations because the $75 billion in reconciliation funds are slated to be used to restore a military that was “ignored” under the Biden administration. The new request is an “urgent, necessary injection of resources to address” immediate needs, he said.

“The military requires a generational investment to deliver on peace through strength,” Hegseth said, later adding that he didn’t know what his predecessor, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, “did for four years.”

“The amount of neglect, the amount of stale thinking and bureaucracy was staggering when we took over,” Hegseth said.

He added that the supplemental was “a new request based on new realities of a world we face.”

“[We’re] stepping up to meet the moment,” Hegseth said.

In May, Hegseth estimated that the cost of war at the time was $29 billion.

Roughly half of the supplemental request, $32.7 billion, is slated to fund the ongoing operation directly. The remainder is for national security priorities not related to the war.

The request includes $21 billion for munitions, $17.3 billion for operations, $12.1 billion for classified programs, $5.1 billion for cybersecurity, $2.4 billion for drones, $1.7 billion for readiness, $1.5 billion for fuel and $2 billion for “administration priorities” and National Guard support.

The request comes as the war, which began Feb. 28, has escalated in the past two weeks. The U.S. has conducted air strikes consecutively for the last 10 days, and four U.S. service members have been killed in the last four days, bringing the total number of U.S. casualties to 18.

At least 14 merchant mariners also have died as a result of attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the International Maritime Organization, and transits have decreased dramatically as Iran has reasserted its control over the strategic waterway.

Caine told senators he sat before them asking for the funding “while the window of opportunity — while time — is still on our side.”

“Our adversaries are aligning in their interests, creating simultaneous challenges across multiple domains. They are sharing intelligence, combat capabilities and technology. Technology. That is accelerating the speed of war, isn’t it?” Caine said in opening remarks.

Of concern to Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., and several other senators, was the administration’s approach to the Russia-Ukraine war and funding promised to support Ukraine that has not been allocated. Kennedy wanted assurances that the DoD had chosen a clear side in the conflict, asking Caine who “we” wanted to win.

“Sir, I want Ukraine to win,” Caine said.

“Is Russia America’s friend?” Kennedy asked.

“I think that depends on your definition of friend. I think it’s a complicated relationship,” Caine replied. After a brief pause, he added, “But no, I don’t think they’re our friends.”

Kennedy also asked what the administration thinks will happen regarding the Strait of Hormuz and what Iran’s intentions are in developing a nuclear weapon — the initial reason President Donald Trump gave for attacking Iran.

“We need straight answers!” Kennedy told Hegseth.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska sought assurances that should the supplemental request be approved, the Trump administration would not perceive passage as a measure for restarting the 60-day clock on a War Powers Resolution, which the Senate passed 50-48 in June.

Citing precedent by President Bill Clinton in sending U.S. troops to Kosovo, Murkowski asked if the administration felt it had adequate authorization to continue the conflict in Iran.

“We certainly, as department, take the position of the White House that we have all the authorities necessary at this moment,” Hegseth said.

Two lawmakers, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W. Va., asked Hegseth to answer for the record, to concerns that service members injured in the current conflict did not receive proper medical care from the U.S. military or screenings for traumatic brain injury.

As of Tuesday, more than 440 troops have been injured in the conflict.

“Every effort was made to provide every level of medical care possible,” Hegseth said.

Acting Army Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve said in an Army budget hearing that the order to halt a planned 9-month rotation to Europe by 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division to Eastern Europe came from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

LaNeve and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said they were informed of the order and had been consulted, but they wouldn’t provide the exact timing of the decision. On May 1, the unit had cased its colors in preparation for deployment, dispatched its advanced team and launched its equipment overseas.

Soldiers began discussing the decision to scrap the deployment publicly early Tuesday morning; the order was confirmed Wednesday by Army Times and other news media.

LaNeve said the decision was made “in the last two weeks” by the Defense Department and Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander of U.S. European Command and the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

LaNeve and Driscoll downplayed the move as part of routine manning reviews conducted throughout the year.

“We are constantly in contact with [the Office of the Secretary of Defense] and the combatant commanders … and this is not meant to hide the ball,” Driscoll said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing.

“This type of conversation is going on throughout the year, every single year, and the Army is always ready to move people and things based off combatant commander and Secretary of War preferences,” Driscoll added.

But lawmakers questioned the timing and the reasons, lambasting the order that Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said sent a “terrible message to Russia and our allies.”

Bacon said he had spoken with Polish leaders who were “blindsided” by the decision and understood that Grynkewich had expressed reservations to the order, saying that it was not without risk.

“This is a slap in the face to Poland. It’s a slap in the face to our Baltic friends. I think it’s a slap to the face in this committee, because we’ve put floors and restrictions on the Pentagon on further reductions in Europe because of what they did with Romania,” Bacon said.

CNN reported Thursday that Hegseth made the decision in relation to the administration’s efforts to pressure Europe to increase its own defenses.

CNN also reported that Hegseth’s order canceled a deployment of 3rd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment to Germany later this year and a command that oversees long-range rockets and missiles will be removed from Europe.

The news follows an announcement May 1 that the U.S. would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany — a decision Pentagon officials said was made following a review of “theater requirements and conditions on the ground.”

But critics say the withdrawal is retribution for NATO countries deciding not to join the U.S. in attacking Iran. President Donald Trump repeatedly has criticized NATO countries for not investing more in their own defense and said in March that NATO would face a “bad future” if they didn’t help defend the Strait of Hormuz.

“If there’s no response, or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO,” Trump told the Financial Times.

Army leaders did not say how many soldiers were affected by the decision or provide the number of personnel in the advanced echelon that now must return to Fort Hood, where the brigade is based.

The order has upended the lives of at least 4,500 soldiers, however, many of whom made preparations to vacate homes and apartments, store belongings and relocate their families.

The order also cost money: in a text message reviewed by Army Times Tuesday, a brigade member estimated the cost and retrieval of equipment at $4 million.

Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez said Thursday the decision was “not an unexpected, last-minute decision,” but lawmakers pushed back on that assessment, with Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., saying he didn’t see how the “statement can be true.”

“These are major decisions that appear to many of the members of this committee to be last-minute decisions,” Scott said.

LaNeve and Driscoll noted that in their roles as chief of staff and secretary, their jobs are administrative and they have no authority in operational decisions.

LaNeve’s multiple references to the law that dictates the structure of the armed forces — and the pair’s lack of response — irritated several committee members.

“We have been very focused on this committee about force posture, and EUCOM in particular not being disturbed, particularly without — what the statute requires — is consultation with us, and we didn’t get that, so we don’t know what’s going on here, but I just tell you we’re not happy,” said Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala.

“It is a pretty dramatic decision to, at the last minute, pull a team that you’re trying to send over there,” agreed Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the committee’s ranking member. “If there’s some strategy behind it, then you guys ought to know, and you ought to be able to communicate it to us.”

The U.S. has roughly 80,000 service members in Europe.

European Command did not respond to a request for comment by publication.

An Army official confirmed the decision Wednesday but did not provide details and referred all questions to the Defense Department, which did not respond to a request for information.

During a congressional hearing Tuesday on the Army’s budget posture, neither Army Secretary Dan Driscoll nor Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army vice chief of staff, mentioned the deployment cancellation.

But word already had started spreading early Tuesday morning among those affected, with soldiers texting friends and loved ones about the change.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said during his opening statement in the hearing that the Army faces a budget shortfall of at least $2 billion as a result of extended operations that include deployments of the Army National Guard to Washington, D.C., and units to participate in U.S. border control.

Reed wondered what the impact was on training and operations but the topic was not addressed.

According to ABC News, the Army budget shortfall is significantly larger than Reed’s estimate. In the report, Army officials told the outlet the amount actually is between $4 billion and $6 billion.

The Pentagon announced in April that it planned to withdraw roughly 5,000 troops from Germany. Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell said that Secretary Pete Hegseth made the decision after reviewing “theater requirements and conditions on the ground.”

The move would bring U.S. troops levels in Europe to pre-2022 levels, before Russia invaded Ukraine and started a war that has killed more than 43,000 Ukrainian troops and at least 100,000 Russian service members, according to Every Casualty Counts, a British-based non-governmental organization that tracks conflict deaths.

More than 10,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Poland on rotation. The “Black Jack” brigade was expected to deploy for nine months. The Stars and Stripes reported that the Fort Hood, Texas-based tank brigade cased its colors May 1 in preparation for the deployment.

Portions of the 2^nd Armored Brigade Combat Team advanced echelon are already in Poland and equipment is in transit, according to the deployment plan.

Army officials from Fort Hood and U.S. Army Headquarters referred all questions to DoD, which declined to comment.

“We have no comment on this at this time,” the Pentagon press office wrote in an email to Army Times.

This is a developing news story. It will be updated as more information is made available.

A hearing on the Pentagon’s $1.45 trillion budget request for fiscal 2027 became a hotly contested debate on Iran, with House Armed Services Committee members asking how long the secretary expected the operation to last and Hegseth bristling at those who questioned the administration’s decision to go to war.

Committee members praised the work of the U.S. service members currently deployed to the Middle East, but they also wanted Hegseth to address the ultimate outcome.

Ranking committee member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., asked Hegseth where the war was going. Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., said the military had executed the war with “tactical success” but called the administration’s strategy an example of “incompetence.”

The comments struck a nerve with Hegseth, who argued that President Donald Trump is the only U.S. leader to decide to physically stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

“The biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” Hegseth said, addressing Garamendi and others who have opposed the operation.

“Shame on you calling this a quagmire two months in the effort,” Hegseth added.

When the U.S. and Israel launched combat operations in Iran on Feb. 28, Trump said the goals were three-fold: destroy Iran’s missile capability; “annihilate” their navy; and ensure that the country would never have nuclear weapons.

The operation killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several key leaders, destroyed Iran’s navy and wiped out key military installations. In retaliation, Iran launched missiles and air assaults on U.S. military facilities, killing 13 and damaging U.S. bases across the region, as well as civilian targets in Meddle East countries.

Hegseth noted that the Iranian navy has been destroyed, but Iran continues to have nuclear ambitions despite losing capabilities as a result of Operation Midnight Hammer last summer that Hegseth said “obliterated” facilities.

“You have to stare down this kind of enemy who’s hell bent on getting a nuclear weapon and get them to a point where they’re at the table giving it up,” Hegseth said.

The questions over the war’s future come as a 60-day deadline approaches Thursday under the War Powers Act. The legislation requires the president to seek congressional authorization to continue the operation or withdraw troops.

The law allows Trump to request an extension if the time is needed to safely withdraw U.S. troops.

According to testimony, the Iran war has cost $25 billion to date, with the highest costs coming at the beginning of the conflict as a result of the use of thousands of bombs and missiles.

The Defense Department’s $1.45 trillion budget request for fiscal 2027 is 44% higher than the Pentagon’s current budget — the highest in modern history. It would fund an increase in military end-strength of 44,000 service members, provide a 5% to 7% pay raise to troops depending on rank and boost procurement funding by 76%.

“Under the leadership of President Trump our builder-in-chief, we are reversing … systemic decay and putting our defense industrial base back on a war-time footing,” Hegseth said.

During the hearing, lawmakers raised concerns about the firing of former Army Chief of Staff Randy George and the decision to remove general officers from promotion lists, with several praising the former’s 40-years of service and dedication to soldiers.

“Let’s talk about a guy who is a patriot. Someone who everyone on this dais has huge admiration for,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Penn., an Air Force veteran, referring to George.

In his response to Houlahan, Hegseth hinted that he fired George as part of a war on “woke” — Hegseth’s efforts to eliminate diversity or equity initiatives in the services.

“Out of respect for these officers, we never talk about the nature of their removal, but every one of them, including myself, knows that they serve at the pleasure of the president,” Hegseth said.

But, he added, “it’s very difficult to change the culture of a department that has been destroyed by the wrong perspective.”

During testimony, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine remained above the political fray, declining to answer questions he perceived as political.

“My duty is to ensure our civilian leadership has a comprehensive range of military options and the associated risks that to those leaders who make the nation’s hardest decisions and offer my military advice privately,” Caine said.

“My blueprint for this role is Gen. George C. Marshall. His commitment to civilian control of the military and nonpartisan military remains a constant standard, and something I borrow from often,” he added.

According to budget documents released this week by the Trump administration, the VA would receive a record $488 billion, including $205.6 billion in discretionary funding for programs and operations and $282.6 billion for mandatory spending — the column that covers disability benefits, pensions, insurance and other requirements.

Highlights in the discretionary spending proposal include $500 million to build permanent facilities for homeless veterans at the new National Center for Warrior Independence in West Los Angeles, $1.3 billion to construct a VA medical center in Manchester, New Hampshire, nearly $2 billion to replace the VA medical center in Indianapolis and $30 million to buy land for a new medical center in San Antonio.

The budget supports the VA’s proposed redesign of its community care contracts and programs and planned changes to the management structure at the Veterans Health Administration. It also funds the restart of the VA’s electronic medical record system program that has been on hold since 2022. The VA plans to restart the initiative this month at four facilities, with an additional nine joining later this year.

The VA estimates that the fiscal 2027 budget would provide disability compensation to more than 7.4 million veterans and support 9.2 million veterans enrolled in VA health care.

According to the VA’s Budget in Brief documents, the proposal would support 443,327 full-time VA employees — roughly 9,000 fewer than in 2025 but up nearly 6,200 from fiscal 2026.

In a statement laid out in the documents, VA Secretary Doug Collins said the proposal will enable the department to deliver timely care and benefits for all beneficiaries.

“This budget request reflects VA’s efforts to find more effective and efficient ways to serve our mission and maximize our resources,” the document states. “The days of measuring VA’s progress by how much money we spend and how many people we employ, instead of how successfully we serve Veterans, are over.”

President Donald Trump’s $2.2 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2027 includes nearly $1.5 trillion in spending for the Defense Department — up 44% from fiscal 2026 levels — and increases for the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.

It trims several domestic programs, including education, food and energy assistance, housing, the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among others.

The proposed VA budget increases spending for VA medical care provided in VA facilities but also increases the budget for community care, the VA’s program for covering the health treatment received by veterans in non-VA facilities.

The budget, which also includes a request for advanced funding for fiscal 2028, ensures that veterans benefits and services are never affected by a government shutdown. In addition, it increases medical care funding, with $96.2 billion requested for care provided in the VA medical system and $42 billion for community care.

As with fiscal 2026, VA officials asked to shift the mandatory funds designated to cover the costs associated with injuries or illnesses related to toxic exposures to the discretionary budget. The request of $52 billion from the Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund is likely to raise concerns among Democratic lawmakers, who have argued that the continued use of the funds could jeopardize monies set aside for a specific purpose.

The proposal also seeks to cut what White House officials referred to as “divisive and wasteful diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.” The budget documents did not specify which diversity programs the budget will defund, but officials said the reductions would ensure that “VA funding is used for critical VA missions: providing healthcare; benefits; and cemetery services for America’s veterans.”

The president’s proposed budget represents Trump’s vision for the federal government. It serves as a blueprint for Congress to consider as it starts its fiscal 2027 appropriations process.

In the last 25 years, the VA’s budget has ballooned significantly to address the needs of older veterans as well as the millions who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal represents a 10-fold increase for the VA since fiscal 2001, when the VA’s budget was $45 billion.

The number of American personnel killed and injured in Operation Epic Fury rose Monday as the United States continued its assault on Iran, U.S. Central Command officials confirmed.

In a statement on X, Central Command said a service member who had been “seriously wounded” in the initial assault had succumbed to their injuries. Two others, who were previously unaccounted for, have been recovered — bringing the total number of military personnel killed in action to six.

Pentagon officials did not provide specifics on the circumstances that lead to the deaths, but during a press conference Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a projectile had made it through air defenses and struck a fortified U.S. military position.

Hegseth did not disclose the facility’s location, but reporting by the Washington Post indicated the casualties occurred in Kuwait.

“You have air defenses and lots coming in, and you hit most of it, and we absolutely do — we have incredible air defenders. Every once in a while, you might have one, unfortunately — we call it a ‘squirter’ — that makes its way through, and in that particular case, it hit a tactical operations center,” Hegseth said.

U.S. Central Command said Monday that 18 troops had been wounded, up from the five reported over the weekend, according to Stars and Stripes.

Central Command did not respond to questions regarding the extent of the injuries or whether the service members had been evacuated from the theatre to U.S. military hospitals in Germany or the United States.

The U.S. and Israel launched strikes Saturday on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top leaders. The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported by mid-day Eastern Standard Time that 555 Iranians had been killed in the initial assault.

During a press conference Monday, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that additional air assets were being sent to the region but he declined to say how many service members were in theatre.

“I think we are just about where we want to be in terms of total combat capacity and combat power,” Caine said.

The identities of the fallen have not been released pending notification of the next of kin.

Caine warned Monday that there would likely be more casualties.

“We expect to take additional losses, and as always, we will work to minimize U.S. losses,” Caine said. “But, as the secretary said, this is major combat operations.”

At a White House ceremony Monday honoring three Medal of Honor recipients, President Donald Trump said the purpose of the operation was three-fold: to destroy Iran’s missile capability; “annihilate” their navy; and ensure that the country would never have nuclear weapons.

Over the weekend, U.S. Northern Command raised the security levels on military installations in the United States to Force Protection Level Bravo, indicating a higher state of alert for those guarding U.S. bases.

Under the Bravo condition, 100% of people entering installations will be required to show current identification and vehicles may be subjected to inspection.

Also, the Trusted Traveler Program — an initiative that allows service members, those who hold a Defense Department identification card and civilians to bring individuals on base without a background check — is suspended.

For the first time, the fiscal 2026 defense appropriations bill included problem gambling as a research topic sanctioned by the Defense Department under its Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program. Gambling addiction joins more than 240 subjects authorized by Congress to receive funding under the program.

Last July, the National Council on Problem Gambling joined forces with gaming companies BetMGM, MGM Resorts and FanDuel to ask Senate appropriators to include funding for gambling research in the Pentagon’s fiscal 2026 budget bill.

According to the 2022 Defense Department Health Related Behaviors Survey, 1.6% of active-duty service members reported a problem with gambling and 1.7% of reserve members screened positive for a gambling addiction.

Despite this, however, there has been a dearth of research on the impact of gambling on the military community, according to the NCPG.

Being listed among the allowable topics in the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program doesn’t guarantee that the subject will be studied. But it makes federal funding available and is a step in the right direction, according to NCPG Executive Director Heather Maurer.

“For the first time, federal research funding is being made available to study gambling addiction. This development is especially critical for servicemembers and veterans who face elevated risk and have historically been underserved by research,” Maurer said in a statement.

An estimated 7.5 million to 10.5 million Americans have a gambling disorder, considered a behavioral health issue similar to alcohol, drug and tobacco addiction, according to NCPG.

Problem gambling is linked to a six-fold increase in homelessness among veterans with the disorder and 40% of those seeking treatment for gambling addiction have attempted suicide, the group said.

The fiscal 2026 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes defense funding, contains $370 million for research on the topics allowed under the PRMP. It was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

The program provides federal funding in several scientific study areas that affect military families and are also relevant to public health. Subjects include: infectious diseases, autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular health, internal medicine, respiratory health, rare diseases and more.

Advocates hope researchers will apply for funding to examine the impact of gambling on military personnel, to include online gambling and sports betting, intervention and treatment.

“This inclusion sends a clear signal that gambling addiction is a public health issue, not a stigma,” Maurer said. “When we invest in research, we reduce stigma, improve care, and build the knowledge needed to protect individuals, families, and readiness.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs operates two residential gambling addiction treatment centers — in Cleveland at the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center and at the VA Residential Recovery and Renewal Center in Las Vegas.

More than 3,000 slot machines are located on U.S. military installations in Germany, Japan and South Korea, generating $100 million a year for recreational facilities and programs.

In 2024, lawmakers offered an amendment to the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill that would have banned slot machines from overseas bases, saying their presence increase the risk for gambling addiction among service members. The proposal did not make it into the final version of the law.

Lunday takes the service’s helm at a time of great transformation: The Coast Guard has embarked on a modernization plan that aims to grow the force by 15,000 and expand its capabilities through acquisitions and technology, while it also is actively engaged in significant interdiction and national security operations.

In a ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, Lunday said the service is in “greater demand than ever before,” and he promised it would become a more “agile, capable and responsive fighting force.”

“Like every Coast Guard crew on a mission, our service must do three things: ready, fight and navigate. And we must do them in that order,” Lunday said.

Under Lunday’s tenure as acting commandant, the Coast Guard launched Force Design 2028, an initiative that calls for restructuring the service’s headquarters, purchasing new aircraft, ships, drones and technology to support operations, improving infrastructure and increasing end-strength.

The Coast Guard received nearly $25 billion in resources in July from the Trump administration’s reconciliation bill — funding designed to fix the service’s crumbling infrastructure and invest in new technology and assets.

A progress update of Force Design 2028 released Thursday said the Coast Guard already has allocated $7.7 billion of the funds and plans to complete the process by next year.

Speaking at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium in Arlington, Virginia, on Wednesday, Sean Plankey, a senior adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, said the rapid pace was necessary to ensure that the service becomes the Coast Guard “that America needs.”

“That money is taxpayer dollars, and those a taxpayer expects us to use that money to invest it for the American public,” Plankey said. “If we’re just sitting on the account saying, ‘We’re waiting on requirements, we’re figuring things out,’ it’s not going to change the service.”

Since the announcement of Force Design 2028, the service has reorganized 68% of its headquarters staff, creating a chief of staff and two deputy commandant positions, eliminated 14 flag officer positions and added program executive offices to manage acquisitions.

The Coast Guard has purchased two long-range command-and-control aircraft and invested in counter-unmanned aerial systems. It has also made investments in acquiring a new fleet of Arctic security cutters, ten additional fast response cutters, additional offshore patrol cutters and new polar icebreakers and waterways commerce cutters.

At the heart of this “bold course,” Lunday said, are Coast Guard men and women, which he called “our greatest treasure.”

“We will lead and inspire our crews to get the mission done while taking the very best care of them,” Lunday said.

Lunday was named acting commandant Jan. 21, 2025, when his predecessor, Adm. Linda Fagan, was fired from the job after serving in the position for nearly three years. Lunday, a 1987 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, was appointment vice commandant in June 2024 and previously served as commander of Atlantic Area.

Previous assignments include commander of the 14th Coast Guard District, now known as Coast Guard Oceania District, and U.S. Coast Guard Cyber Command. He holds a Master of Science in national security strategy from the National War College and a law degree from George Washington University Law School.

During his swearing-in ceremony, Noem called Lunday a “special kind of leader” for “unprecedented times.”

“Over the past year, Adm. Lunday has proven that his leadership and dedication to the country is unprecedented. He has proven that he is dedicated to the success of the Coast Guard and he has proven it over and over. In fact, 2025 turned out to be one of the most significant and impactful in the Coast Guard’s history,” Noem said.

Lunday was slated to deliver a keynote address Wednesday at the Surface Navy Association meeting but he was called away for operational demands, organizers said.

A social media post Thursday by Noem gave some insight into Lunday’s absence: She announced that the Coast Guard had been involved in the seizure of a sixth sanctioned oil tanker the administration said has ties to Venezuela.

According to The Associated Press, a Coast Guard tactical team boarded the motor tanker Veronica with Marines and Navy sailors from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in the Caribbean Sea.

The majority of justices seemed skeptical that the case, brought against Fluor Corp., was an exception to previous lawsuits filed against defense contractors, which typically have immunity in litigation generated by their involvement in wartime service.

In the case Hencely v. Fluor, former Army Spec. Winston Hencely argued that Fluor should be liable under state law for failing to supervise an employee who carried out a suicide bomb attack that killed three soldiers and two Fluor staff members.

In the bombing investigation, the Army found that Fluor violated its contractual duties by providing the perpetrator, Ahmad Nayeb, with tools used to carry out the attack and failing to monitor Nayeb’s movements during escort duties.

Frank Chang, Hencely’s attorney, argued that because of Fluor’s shortcomings, the company violated its federal contract, opening it up for potential litigation. During oral arguments, Chang said Congress and previous court decisions, particularly in Boyle v. United Technologies Corp., the law makes it “very clear” that protections are provided only to companies that follow their contract specifications.

“Our Constitution presumes that state tort claims are available and leaves it to Congress to alter that default rule. Congress has done so in some circumstances when it comes to federal contractors, but it has not barred claims by American soldiers injured by contractor negligence,” Chang said.

Several justices noted, however, that the U.S. military — which by law has immunity from injury claims from U.S. service members — and not Fluor was responsible for the safety of the base and its inhabitants, including security screenings of personnel and equipment.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted that the Army failed some of its own responsibilities.

“It was the military [that] was supposed to prevent [Nayeb] from bringing this stuff onto the base. And then the military runs a 5K, right? And anyone who’s run a 5K, there are lots of people stacked together at the starting line,” Kavanaugh said.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said she was struggling to understand the argument that there should be “carve-outs” to allow for liability against general contractors.

“I’m just trying to understand how we fit the concept into the understanding that in the [Federal Tort Claims Act], Congress decided that even with respect to combatant activities for which the government itself could not be held liable, there would still be general contractor liability,” Jackson said.

Chang said that the laws of immunity did not apply because “Fluor violated what the military wanted it to do.”

Defense contractors previously have been sued for negligence in their support of the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere — notably over the management of burn pits used to dispose of waste on military bases, chemical exposure during cleanup operations and faulty construction that contributed to electrocutions and other deaths.

In these cases, service members or families have either lost their arguments or been awarded large compensatory sums, only to see cases overturned by higher courts. The courts have ruled either that they don’t have jurisdiction in the cases or that contractors have the same immunity from lawsuits as the federal government, since they are supporting combat operations.

During oral arguments, Fluor attorneys said the Constitution preempts Hencely’s suit under state law because only the federal government has the power to go to war. The company’s attorney argued that the states — in the case, South Carolina, where Fluor is based, had no authority the bombing occurred in a combat theater.

“If the decisions of a contractor are going to be subject to state tort suits … the contractor is going to have to act very differently when an accident happens. The immediate thing the military needs when there’s an accident like this is for soldiers and contractors to work together to make sure there’s not a similar attack later that day, the next day, and so you need cooperation,” Fluor attorney Mark Mosier said. “If the contractor knows we could be blamed for this, they’re going to want to do their own investigation. They’re going to want to collect their own evidence.”

Three retired senior officers, including two lieutenant generals, filed a brief to the Supreme Court arguing that military contractors should be protected from litigation since they play an integral role in sustaining military operations. To subject contractors to possible state-law tort claims could result to “legal uncertainty and finger-pointing” in combat theatres, they argued.

Chang said the military would benefit from ruling in his client’s favor since it would “incentivize” the contractor to adhere to its specifications in a war zone.

“If the court is already thinking about creating some sort of a federal common law rule in this area, we think it should be the one that furthers the government’s interest by avoiding contractor negligence,” Chang said.

On Nov. 12, 2016, Ahmad Nayeb, an Afghan national, detonated the bomb in a crowd of more than 200 as people lined up to take part in a 5K celebration of Veterans Day.

According to an investigation conducted by U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, Nayeb constructed the bomb in his on-base workspace using materials and tools from his job, which involved vehicle maintenance and oil disposal.

Nayeb failed to board an escort bus for Afghan nationals to leave the base the morning of Nov. 12, but no one reported him missing. He walked across the base toward the race staging area, where Hencely and others spotted him acting strangely. As they grabbed Nayeb’s shoulder, he detonated the bomb.

Killed in the attack were U.S. soldiers Pfc. Tyler Iubelt, 20; Staff Sgt. John Perry, 30; and Sgt. 1st Class Allan Brown, 46, as well as Fluor contractors Peter Provost, 62, and retired Army Col. Jarrold Reeves, 57.

Their families and at least eight injured service members have filed a lawsuit against Fluor, but that case is on hold pending the Supreme Court’s decision, expected by early next year.

During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Pentagon budget, Milley said he expects Army Gen. Robert Abrams and Chairman of the Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Hanki Park to make recommendations on whether to hold the training as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in South Korea.

The country has the largest number of cases outside China — 1,300 as of Wednesday.

“So we’re taking a hard look at the joint exercises with the Republic Korea Army,” Milley said.

The chairman’s statements came on the heels of an announcement Monday from U.S. Forces Korea calling a media report announcing the postponement of combined training “inaccurate.”

“When any USFK decisions or announcements are made — regardless of the topic or scenario — they will be made through official USFK channels, platforms or agencies, and not through rumors or speculation,” noted the statement, released on the USFK web and Facebook pages.

U.S. installations in the Republic of Korea are now screening individuals entering installations, taking temperatures and conducting medical surveys. The enhanced medical protections led to hours-long backups this week at the gates of Camps Humphreys, Casey and Hovey, as well as Yongsan, according to U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys Commander Col. Michael Tremblay.

On Wednesday, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command issued travel restrictions to the Republic of Korea, banning all nonessential travel for military, civilian and contract personnel to the country.

Esper told Congress Wednesday that a Pentagon team meets daily to discuss plans for dealing with the virus, to include executing a U.S. Northern Command campaign plan and receiving updates from all combatant commanders.

In Italy, where more than 35,000 U.S. personnel and family members reside, cases of coronavirus continue to mount. Travel restrictions have been instituted for U.S. personnel as well as dependents to areas that have been placed off limits by the Italian government, including Lombardy and Veneto.

The commissary and exchange at Vicenza also began limiting purchases of cleaning supplies and disinfectants to ensure that all patrons could stock up, according to the garrison’s Facebook page.

The U.S. State Department this week clarified its travel advisory for Italy, confirming its Level 2 advisory — Exercise Increased Caution — because of COVID-19. Italy had been at Level 1 for a standing risk of terrorist attacks; the State Department added a note of caution to be aware of the increasing cases of coronavirus in the country.

Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters, commander of U.S. European Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander, told Congress Tuesday he is watching the situation in Europe, saying there may be a “50-50” chance that restrictions in Italy will be extended and U.S. installations in Germany could face similar measures should the number of cases rise.

Milley and Esper said the Pentagon is taking “all appropriate measures” to help contain the spread of the novel virus and protect personnel.

“My first priority is protection of our people, both service members and families, and then make sure we protect our ability to accomplish our mission,” Esper said.

“Coronavirus is a very serious thing. We, the U.S. military, and we, the Department of Defense, are taking all kinds of appropriate precautions. We’ve enacted one of our global pandemic plans to work this,” Milley said.