'Don't read back my testimony': Hegseth snaps when pressed over dwindling US munitions

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth got into a testy exchange with Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan after she pressed him on the status of U.S. munitions stockpiles."You don't have to read back to me what I testified," Hegseth shot back, arguing that he was speculating on how some munitions take longer to produce than others, but the U.S. had plenty in reserve and is manufacturing more than ever, framing it as a necessary response to the Biden administration's military aid to Ukraine.

Hegseth was mid-way through a boilerplate defense of America's arsenal when Brennan interjected, flagging concerns about a stockpile crisis and pointing to his own congressional testimony, in which he had appeared to suggest it could take years to rebuild some reserves. The 46-year-old rubbished those claims as a "manufactured story that the media wants to peddle" and reiterated that the stockpiles were strong.

Brennan was referring to comments Hegseth made before the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 30, during a hearing on the Pentagon's $1.5 trillion budget request. At the time, he had estimated it could take "months and years" to replenish stockpiles, citing the toll of the prolonged Iran war. Hegseth had nonetheless called that timeline "fast," adding that the pace would depend on the specific weapon system.

The clash became notable mainly because Brennan pressed Hegseth on whether the administration backs letting allies co-produce Patriot interceptors, a request Ukraine's president made directly on the same program weeks earlier.

This is not the first time the Defense Secretary has denied issues with munitions stockpiles. He repeatedly dismissed concerns as "foolishly and unhealthily overstated" during a May 12 House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing. Yet Hegseth has shown concern about depleting stockpiles before—enough that he unilaterally halted an entire shipment of weapons to Ukraine in 2025, citing the same readiness worries he now downplays.

It was the third time Hegseth stopped an aid shipment to Ukraine, NBC reported. He did so despite an analysis by senior military officials concluding that the aid package would not have jeopardized the U.S. military's own supplies, the report added. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who also appeared on the show, affirmed that a munitions issue was inevitable, noting that attacking over "10,000 targets from the air with cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and bombs depletes a lot of munitions"—and the U.S. does not have an "endless supply."