Hegseth pushes for Pentagon funding during renaming of military base after Lindsey Graham

By Haley Britzky, CNN

(CNN) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed Congress to approve a sharp increase in the Pentagon’s budget during a ceremony on Monday to rename a base for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Graham, a veteran who was long known for his advocacy for expanding the military, died suddenly last month following an aortic dissection. The South Carolina military installation, previously known as Joint Base Charleston, will now be known as Joint Base Lindsey Graham.

“As we gather here today, the War Department is seeking a historic generational investment of $1.5 trillion for American warriors. And Lindsey himself said to me in his office, ‘This is the best military budget I’ve seen since I’ve been in Congress.’ End quote,” Hegseth said. “This department pays tribute to Lindsey Graham in the naming of this base, but there could be no greater tribute than Congress could give than to invest in our warriors for the full $1.5 trillion.”

Hegseth has recently spent time on Capitol Hill urging Republicans to support the Pentagon’s massive budget request, which would be a sharp increase from the roughly $800 million approved for last year. The agency also got an additional $150 billion in separate legislation President Donald Trump termed the One Big Beautiful Bill. CNN has reported that Republicans have been skeptical of the request amid the monthslong war with Iran.

Graham, a longtime Republican from South Carolina and Trump ally, died last month from a tear in the inner layer of his aorta, his spokesperson said.

Graham joined the Air Force Reserves in 1995 and served more than 30 years, including time on active duty as a military lawyer while deployed overseas. He retired as a colonel in 2015.

Joint Base Charleston is home to the 628th Air Base Wing and supports more than 90,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, civilians and retirees, its website says.

Hegseth also used the Monday speech to criticize “woke, so-called leaders” of the military under previous administrations and praised Graham for spending his “final years taking on a radical leftist ideology that had run rampant in the media, in academia, and even among a few members of Congress.”

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