Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Senate testimony NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington about the administration's Iran war objectives following the testimony of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Politics Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Senate testimony July 22, 20266:43 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Leila Fadel Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's Senate testimony Listen · 4:53 4:53 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5902047/nx-s1-9858163" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington about the administration's Iran war objectives following the testimony of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Sponsor Message Transcript
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
And Senator Patty Murray of Washington state is on the line now. As we just heard, she's the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Good morning, Senator. Thanks for being on the program.
PATTY MURRAY: Good morning. Thanks for asking.
FADEL: I want to revisit how the Secretary of Defense characterized this request for billions more dollars in defense funding. He framed it in very stark terms. Let's listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PETE HEGSETH: Not funding this department at 1.5 trillion, I believe, is the greatest threat that our nation faces. Either we invest in our warriors at this moment of step change on the battlefield and growing threats, or this is all just talk.
FADEL: As you pointed out in Tuesday's hearing, the Defense Department is already funded at a trillion dollars for this year. Here Hegseth is saying, give us more, or you, Congress, are responsible for the greatest threat against the U.S. What do you say to that?
MURRAY: That is absolutely outrageous. We have provided billions of dollars to this Defense Department. The fact is that Hegseth has not managed it well, and this administration has taken us into a war that has no strategy. It has no justification. It has no exit strategy. And now they are asking us, the taxpayers, through Congress to spend literally billions of more of our taxpayer dollars. It is hurting our military readiness. It is misusing our defense spending and our troops who are fighting for us, and it is hurting Americans' pocketbook in many ways.
FADEL: Did you hear what you wanted to hear vis-a-vis what the Department of Defense has spent the 35 or so billion dollars on in this war and what they're asking for when it comes to more money?
MURRAY: I think on a bipartisan basis, I have heard many Republican senators say the same thing I'm about to say. We have not had anywhere near an adequate justification, or an accounting of how this money is being spent. And that is critically important for not only us, but again, for all Americans to know where their money is going. So there is no justification. There is no - for what he's spending or no reason for us to trust him to add an additional $70 billion that he's now asking for to bankroll this disastrous war that they got us into.
FADEL: So at this point, is it a no from you on this funding?
MURRAY: If the supplemental bill came to us tomorrow, I'd be absolutely a no.
FADEL: At one point, you said Hegseth was trying to skirt the normal appropriations process. What did you mean, and why does that matter?
MURRAY: What that means is the Pentagon every year asks us for what they need to fund our weapons, our troops, our - all of our military bases, and they do it in a very clear and direct way so we can see where the money is spent, and that is for their ongoing expenses. Included in this supplemental is numerous things that should be asked for through that process. So what they are doing is trying to ask us for money through the appropriations, then adding additional supplemental funding above and beyond that justification.
And then, of course, they're talking about a reconciliation bill, and this is on top of what the Republicans voted for last year to give our military billions of dollars of unaccounted-for money. When it goes through the appropriations process, it is budgeted. It is paid for. What they're asking for is additional money that is not paid for, and it robs us of our American resources that are so important today that we need to invest in our American citizens, whether it's healthcare or education or housing or research, so that we can be a strong country far into the future. So asking for it in an emergency is robbing us of our ability to be able to pay for all the things that our country really needs right now to be economically strong.
FADEL: You pressed Hegseth on why funds for the National Guard and U.S. strikes on suspected drug smuggling boats are included in an emergency request for Iran war funding. He blamed the Biden administration for...
MURRAY: Yeah.
FADEL: ...Underfunding the Pentagon. Does his argument hold?
MURRAY: Absolutely not. The - I mean, Hegseth's go-to - in fact, many of the Cabinet members' go-to responses if they don't have a good response, blame Biden. Look, Biden did not get us into this war. Trump and Hegseth started this war, and they refuse to take responsibility for it. I find that appalling.
FADEL: That's Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington state. Thank you for joining us.
MURRAY: Thank you.
FADEL: And we'll note - we have invited multiple Republican lawmakers to join us to discuss the war. Those invitations remain open. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{310:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(80)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(769),o(155),o(176),o(93),o(447),o(254),o(128),o(130),o(754),o(175),o(755),o(255),o(78),o(773)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},782:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(310)}},[[782,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();