Senate votes to freeze 75% of Secretary travel funds

A Senate committee has voted to withhold most of the Defense Secretary's travel budget in an effort to compel the Pentagon to release information on controversial military strikes. The Senate Armed Services Committee included a provision in its annual defense policy bill that would freeze 75 percent of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's office travel funds until Congress receives unedited videos of lethal U.S. boat strikes and a full investigation into the bombing of an Iranian school.

The committee advanced the National Defense Authorization Act last week and filed the bill on Tuesday. The measure passed in a 19-8 vote. This action escalates a previous effort from late 2025, when Congress passed legislation restricting 25 percent of the secretary's travel budget to obtain the same materials. Lawmakers from both parties have expressed ongoing frustration with what they describe as the Pentagon ignoring or slow-walking responses to congressional inquiries and keeping them out of major national security decisions.

The information requests center on two specific military actions. The first is for unedited video of strikes conducted under Operation Southern Spear, a campaign...