Remarks

Good morning. I want to thank you all for being here today for this hearing to review the budget and programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We are pleased to be joined by the Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins. Secretary Rollins, we welcome you to the Subcommittee. I look forward to hearing about your priorities and the work that has been underway at USDA during the first 100 days of the Trump Administration. 

Today, the Subcommittee will receive testimony on the posture of the United States Army. First, I would like to welcome our two witnesses, Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll, and General Randy George, the Chief of Staff of the Army. Mr. Secretary, congratulations on your appointment.  I look forward to working with you. General George, thank you for joining us once again. 

Thank you, Chairman Calvert and Ranking Member McCollum. I want to thank the witnesses for being here with us today to discuss the current lay of the land for the Department of the Air Force.

Acting Secretary Ashworth, welcome to the Defense Subcommittee. Generals, nice to see you this afternoon. You are sitting before us as the Air Force and Space Force face a critical path ahead. The world continues to be a volatile place, with malign actors challenging American interests near and far. Time is not on our side as our adversaries have been outpacing and outproducing us. 

Good afternoon. The Defense Subcommittee will come to order.

The topic of today’s hearing is oversight of the Department of the Air Force. We have three witnesses before us today: Acting Secretary of the Air Force, Gary Ashworth; General David Allvin, Chief of Staff of the Air Force; and General Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations. Secretary Ashworth, welcome to the subcommittee. General Allvin and General Saltzman, welcome back. The Administration released the “skinny budget” for Fiscal Year 2026 last Friday. This request includes more than $1 trillion overall for National Defense, however, it does so by assuming $113 billion in funds through reconciliation. The reconciliation process is not a sustainable approach to resourcing defense and is not a substitute for regular appropriations.

Thank you, Chairman Amodei and Ranking Member Underwood, and thank you, Madam Secretary, for being with us today.

Let me begin by commending the brave men and women of this department who stand on the front lines each day to protect the homeland. Under new leadership, they’ve been empowered to fully carry out that fundamental duty. From day one, the Trump Administration has made clear that protecting America is not negotiable—and this White House has taken immediate action to strengthen the security of our nation’s borders and enforce existing immigration laws. The contrast from the Biden Administration could not be clearer. Policies that allowed an open and lawless border have ended, and the message is clear: Illegal migrants—including violent offenders—will no longer have an open invitation. Criminal cartels and traffickers will no longer be enriched.And the safety of our citizens will no longer be put last. 

I would like to thank Secretary Bessent for being here today and for his leadership and steady hand over the last several months. 

We are living in an increasingly complex world with no shortage of issues.  Whether it be taxes or tariffs, rightsizing regulation, or creating a regulatory framework for digital assets, the Department of the Treasury’s role is fundamental to their resolution. If we think about it, this is why the Department of the Treasury was created. The Department is central to maintaining a strong economy, creating jobs, and promoting economic growth both here and abroad.  

Before we wrap up, I want to offer this in closing: our authorizing colleagues are working on reconciliation bills that will provide significant investments in the President’s immigration and border security agenda, including funding to the Coast Guard to secure our maritime border. 

I commend them for their efforts to enable the Department to finish the wall, hire more agents and officers, and bring additional detention beds online. 

I know the Department hopes to be made whole with reconciliation, but in the meantime, you need to live within your means. 

It is our job as members of the Appropriations Committee to make sure the Department is appropriately spending the money Congress provides, as well as to ensure the Department has the resources it needs to execute its mission on an annual basis.

That work begins in earnest today, as we begin the Fiscal Year 2026 process.

I would like to thank General Hull for being here today. The United States Postal Service is a mainstay for most - if not all - our constituents and communities.  Its operations are vast with 640 thousand employees working to deliver millions of pieces of mail and packages daily. Yet, the Postal Service has faced significant financial challenges over the last several decades. Except for fiscal year 2022, the Postal Service has incurred losses in each fiscal year since 2007.