GOP senators question Hegseth leadership after weapons ‘goof-up’

Republican senators say reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth froze weapons shipments to Ukraine without getting approval from President Trump raise serious questions about the level of coordination between the White House and Pentagon and warrants a closer review of the matter by Congress.

GOP lawmakers say the weapons freeze may have been the result of “miscommunication” between Trump and Hegseth.

A senior Senate Republican aide called it “a clear goof-up on a lot of levels.”

Some GOP sources on Capitol Hill warn that if Hegseth or senior members of his team acted to deliberately circumvent the commander in chief, it would pose a serious problem that would need to be addressed.

Senate Republicans are “alarmed” by reporting that Hegseth may have paused weapons shipments to Ukraine multiple times without their knowledge and they want details for who at the Pentagon was involved in freezing shipments.

“That’s a problem,” said one GOP senator who requested anonymity.

“To hear there may have been other pauses or this pause went on longer than any of us know, to me that’s alarming,” the lawmaker said.

“I would elevate this to being beyond concerned, to being alarmed. It’s not like we’re talking to a small arms sale to some African nation, this is Ukraine. This is like the biggest political debate. … This is not something where you have your secretary of Defense or your assistant or your deputy not be in sync with your president.

“I find it alarming that you would not have greater understanding as to what is our plan here,” the source added. “That’s kind of scary.”

Some of the sharpest criticism in the Republican conference came from Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) who told CNN in an interview that Hegseth is “out of his depth” leading the Pentagon and that his decision to stop weapons shipments to Ukraine was “amateurish.”

“Now with the passing of time, I think it’s clear he’s out of his depth as a manager of a large, complex organization,” Tillis told anchor Jake Tapper.

Tillis, who cast a pivotal vote to confirm Hegseth in January, suggested he probably wouldn’t vote to confirm Hegseth “based on the information ... today.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a leading advocate for helping Ukraine defend itself from Russia, said Congress would need to get to “the bottom” of who ordered the weapons freeze and why.

“We’ll get to the bottom of that later,” he said.

Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) said Congress should conduct “oversight” on the issue. 

“We need to do our oversight here, ask our questions of this administration just as we have previous administrations,” he said. “We need to hold hearings and ask questions and learn what's going on.”

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, said there appears to have been a serious communications breakdown between Hegseth and Trump.  

“My sense is there was miscommunication entirely between the White House and secretary of Defense, which I think underscores the chaotic nature of the way operations are being run. Miscommunication, misinformation, etc.,” he said. “I think Trump decided he wanted the weapons and assumed they were going and then discovered to his dismay that they weren’t and Hegseth had been the one to stop them.

“It’s an example of miscommunication of really basic instincts and insights about how one manages the Department of Defense and coordinates with the White House in a way that at least the president knows what you’re doing,” Reed added.

Republican sources familiar with the weapons pause confirmed Hegseth acted on a misunderstanding of what Trump wanted to do with the weapons.

The senior Senate Republican aide said Trump would not have wanted to risk a round of negative news headlines about freezing weapons to Ukraine after finishing up a successful NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands.

NBC News reported that when Hegseth unilaterally suspended the shipment of military aid to Ukraine this month it was the third time he had done so.

He previously suspended shipments in February and May and had the support of Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary of Defense for policy, according to NBC.

CNN reported that Colby, a longtime skeptic of sending large shipments of military aide to Ukraine, recommended the pause of shipments and that Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg approved it.

Politico reported the decision to halt shipments of air defense missiles and other munitions was first made in June and took effect at the beginning of last week.

CNN reported Hegseth did not inform the White House before authorizing the pause on weapons shipments and that key officials — including Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — were not informed of the pause before it happened.

The Pentagon did not respond Thursday to a request for comment from The Hill.

Several Republican senators criticized what one lawmaker called a “rookie mistake” by the secretary of Defense and senior members of his team.

“I hope we don’t see a Department of Defense where you have certain individuals who don’t have the authority think they can assume the authority” to unilaterally freeze weapons shipments, said a Republican senator who requested anonymity.

Trump on Monday reversed the weapons freeze and told reporters Tuesday he was not aware of who ordered it.

Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) applauded the president Tuesday for rejecting the recommendations of senior Defense officials he referred to as “isolationists and restrainers.”

“The president will need to reject calls from the isolationists and restrainers within his administration to limit these deliveries to defensive weapons. And he should disregard those at DoD who invoke munitions shortages to block aid while refusing to invest seriously in expanding munitions productions,” McConnell said in a statement, appearing to direct his comments at Colby.

Media reports about the pause in military aid to Ukraine gave Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) an opportunity to go on offense against the Trump administration Thursday.

“What are U.S. allies supposed to make of this weapons pause? Sure, it is good Donald Trump reversed himself but our allies will wonder, ‘Will this happen again?’” he said. “You know who benefits most from Secretary Hegseth’s and Donald Trump’s incompetence? Vladimir Putin. When Putin sees the disorganization and lack of strategy, he has no incentive to negotiate,” referring to the Russian president.