McConnell serves as the head of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and while he is out, the committee’s work reviewing the Trump administration’s mammoth defense bill has stalled.

Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has a long and complicated history with President Donald Trump. In 2021, McConnell’s decision to acquit Trump during his second impeachment trial led other Republican senators to follow suit, paving the way for Trump’s return to the presidency almost four years later. At other times, McConnell has opposed Trump—notably helping to sink his nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as attorney general.

This week, McConnell could once again interfere in one of the president’s signature programs, simply by being absent from work.

McConnell Is Supposed to Oversee the Defense Bill Markup—He’s Not Doing That Now

The 84-year-old McConnell has been absent from the United States Senate for nearly a month, last casting a vote on the Senate floor on June 11. He has been hospitalized since June 14 for an undisclosed medical issue. Although McConnell’s staff maintains that the senator is engaged in his congressional work, rumors have circulated about his health, and it is unclear when or if he will return to Capitol Hill.

In McConnell’s absence, his “uncertain health status is threatening to upend the defense budget process at a critical moment ahead of the midterm elections,” Politico noted on Wednesday.

McConnell serves as the chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, which holds authority over Pentagon spending. In that role, it is up to McConnell to determine whether the Trump administration’s efforts to secure $1.5 trillion in funding for the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) move forward. The former majority leader has been lukewarm on Trump’s bill; he has said he supports the overall growth of defense spending, but opposes the Trump administration’s strategy for achieving the full $1.5 trillion budget, particularly its inclusion of $350 billion in funding through a separate reconciliation bill.

If McConnell doesn’t return to the Senate soon, the budget proposal could stall on Capitol Hill. For one, the temporary absence reduces the GOP’s majority in the Senate to 52-47, making it that much harder to push through tight votes and potentially emboldening other skeptics of the bill within the Republican Party.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has already delayed marking up spending bills due to McConnell’s absence and internal disagreements over defense spending levels. Trump needs McConnell to be present to negotiate and rally the party into some form of consensus, but it does not appear the senator is in rallying shape.

McConnell had already announced that he would not seek reelection and will step down from his seat in January 2027. Should he ultimately be unable to return to Washington, finding the consensus needed to pass the massive defense bills or a third reconciliation package will become significantly more challenging for the Trump White House.

The DoD Is Already Facing an Acute Cash Shortage

The future budget isn’t the only headache for Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The Pentagon is set to run out of operational funds in August.

The crisis is driven largely by the escalating cost of the Iran war, which has already consumed $29 billion in Pentagon spending, according to the White House. Moreover, experts and critics have warned that the true cost could be closer to $200 billion when factoring in the long-term impact to infrastructure and the global economy.

The Trump administration submitted an $88 billion emergency supplemental request to Congress in mid-June, covering the Iran war, aid to farmers, and efforts to combat the Ebola virus. Of these funds, approximately $67.1 billion were earmarked specifically for defense.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration that the Pentagon has failed to provide a more informative breakdown of how the money is being spent.

What Happens If Congress Refuses to Fund the Pentagon?

If lawmakers, who control the purse strings, fail to reach an agreement with the DoD, the Pentagon will be forced to cancel non-essential field exercises and reduce flight hours. That would not be the end of the world, but the degradation of training would impact the combat readiness of the combined forces, an outcome that no one should want.

Moreover, depots and shipyards delay non-urgent repairs on vehicles, aircraft, and naval vessels, leading to an immediate backlog in fleet availability.

Those in uniform will continue to take on their daily duties under “excepted” activities to maintain national security, much as they would during a government shutdown. Still, some portion of the DoD’s hundreds of thousands of civilian employees could be placed on unpaid furlough, grinding administrative support, logistics, and base maintenance to a halt.

The last time the Pentagon faced such a financial crisis was during the 2013 budget sequestration, which resulted in automatic spending cuts that forced the DoD to implement temporary civilian furloughs and significantly scale back training exercises, aircraft maintenance, and base operations due to constrained fiscal caps.

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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