Cancellations, investigations, and even impeachment could be ahead under Democratic Congress

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on July 21, 2026. Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images

Efforts like Autonomous Warfare Command, the Golden Fleet, and more could crumble without funding.

The Defense Department was already in Congress’s bipartisan bad graces before the midterm elections. In the wake of the Democrats’ overwhelming victory, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Trump administration are likely to face even more pushback for their handling of the Iran war and their plans for pricey initiatives like Golden Dome , Golden Fleet and Autonomous Warfare Command .

And that’s if Hegseth sticks around. Some lawmakers have voiced an intention to impeach him, while rumors swirl that he is angling to be appointed to Tennessee Governor-Elect Marsha Blackburn’s vacated Senate seat.

“My read is that nearly all Democrats and an increasing number of Republicans still want to remove Hegseth,” Todd Harrison , a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told Defense One. “ He has done nothing to improve his position with members of Congress since the House adjourned over this issue back in September, and it will be at the top of the docket when they get back next week.”

In the meantime, it doesn’t appear that Donald Trump intends to fire him. On Wednesday, the president told reporters that he thinks Hegseth is “doing a very good job.” Trump said he hadn’t heard that Hegseth was being considered for the Senate job, but said he’d be “very popular” in the office.

If Trump does change his mind, Harrison said, now would be the time to push him out and still have time to get a replacement nominated and confirmed.

Once the new Congress is seated in the new year, he added, “they will have a hard time getting anyone confirmed.”

Lawmakers will likely face pressure to investigate Hegseth and his administration for their handling of the Iran war, Harrison said, as well as “potentially improper access and contract awards for Trump’s political allies” like Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey .

Whether Hegseth stays or goes, much of his work reshaping the Defense Department is unlikely to stick, Harrison said. Anything that requires new funding is likely to hit a brick wall, and even initiatives that don’t cost anything may be undone by law.

“I think AUTOWARCOM is something they can do without Congress, but I would not expect it to receive any significant funding of its own,” he said. “The Golden Fleet definitely requires Congress for funding, so that is a dead idea—the battleship in particular.”

Democrats will also have the chance to roll back Hegseth’s culture-war pet projects , by passing laws allowing transgender troops to serve openly, re-renaming Army bases to follow the determinations of a congressionally mandated commission and perhaps even enshrining women’s right to serve in combat roles .

“In general, if it is a Hegseth initiative that requires congressional authorization or funding, it is likely not going to happen,” Harrison said. “If it is something the administration can do on its own, they will probably still try and then the new Congress may try to pass statutes that undo these changes.”

There may also be roadblocks for anything that the administration aimed to fund via a proposed 2027 reconciliation bill , such as billions for autonomous capabilities and critical munitions procurement.

“Assuming the huge increase in munitions funding requested through reconciliation does not pass in the lame duck, that is something the next Congress will have to deal with,” Harrison said.

The jettisoning of a reconciliation bill would also shrink the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion defense proposal down to a “still substantial” $1.1 trillion, Mark Cancian , a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Defense One.

“Many of the major defense initiatives have bipartisan support — drones, munitions, shipbuilding, and missile defense,” Cancian said. “There will be some drone organization, though it may not be a combatant command.”

A rebranding of Trump’s Golden Dome and the Boeing F-47 , the Air Force’s six-generation fighter named for Trump’s position in the line of U.S. presidents, could also be expected, he said.

The Defense Department could also face pressure from some familiar faces, including Representative-elect Elaine Luria , D-Va., a retired Navy commander who won back her former House of Representatives seat, and who previously held a seat on the House Armed Services Committee.

In South Carolina, Nancy Lacore , a former Navy admiral that Hegseth forced to retire last year, flipped former Rep. Nancy Mace’s House seat, leaving open another HASC position.

“At this point, I don’t think they have the votes for removal in the Senate,” Harrison said of a Hegseth impeachment. “But it could be enough of an embarrassment to the administration if a decent number of Republicans in the House vote to impeach that they push Hegseth out.”

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2026年7月21日，美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯在华盛顿特区国会山出席参议院拨款委员会听证会。图片来源：Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images

如果没有资金，像自主作战指挥部、黄金舰队等项目可能会崩溃。

在中期选举之前，国防部就已经不受国会两党待见。随着民主党取得压倒性胜利，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯和特朗普政府很可能因其处理伊朗战争的方式以及诸如“金穹顶”、“金舰队”和“自主作战司令部”等耗资巨大的计划而面临更大的阻力。

前提是赫格塞斯继续留任。一些议员已经表示有意弹劾他，同时有传言称他正试图接替田纳西州当选州长玛莎·布莱克本空出的参议院席位。

“我的理解是，几乎所有民主党人和越来越多的共和党人仍然希望罢免赫格塞斯，”美国企业研究所高级研究员托德·哈里森告诉《防务一号》。“自众议院9月份因这个问题休会以来，他没有采取任何措施来改善他在国会议员中的地位，而这个问题将在下周复会时成为首要议题。”

与此同时，唐纳德·特朗普似乎并没有解雇他的打算。周三，总统告诉记者，他认为赫格塞斯“做得非常好”。特朗普表示，他之前没有听说赫格塞斯被考虑担任参议员一职，但他表示，赫格塞斯如果当选，将会“非常受欢迎”。

哈里森说，如果特朗普改变主意，现在就是把他赶下台的好时机，这样还有时间提名和确认接替人选。

他补充说，一旦新的一年国会就职，“他们就很难让任何人获得确认。”

哈里森表示，议员们可能会面临压力，要求调查赫格塞斯及其政府对伊朗战争的处理方式，以及“可能对特朗普的政治盟友（如埃隆·马斯克和帕尔默·勒基）进行不正当的准入和合同授予”。

哈里森表示，无论赫格塞斯是留任还是离任，他重塑国防部的许多工作都不太可能保留下来。任何需要新资金的项目都可能碰壁，甚至一些无需任何成本的举措也可能被法律推翻。

“我认为他们无需国会批准就能建立自动战区，但我预计它不会获得任何实质性的资金，”他说。“黄金舰队的建设肯定需要国会拨款，所以这个想法已经行不通了——尤其是战列舰。”

民主党人还将有机会通过立法允许跨性别军人公开服役、根据国会授权委员会的决定重新命名陆军基地，甚至可能确立女性在战斗岗位上服役的权利，来推翻赫格塞斯在文化战争中推行的那些“心头好”项目。

哈里森说：“一般来说，如果是赫格塞斯提出的需要国会授权或拨款的倡议，那很可能不会实现。如果是政府可以自行完成的事情，他们可能还是会尝试，然后新一届国会可能会试图通过法案来推翻这些改变。”

对于政府计划通过拟议的 2027 年预算协调法案资助的任何项目，例如数十亿美元的自主能力和关键弹药采购，也可能存在障碍。

哈里森说：“假设通过预算协调程序提出的大幅增加军需品资金的要求在跛脚鸭时期没有获得通过，那么这将是下届国会必须处理的问题。”

战略与国际研究中心高级顾问马克·坎西安告诉《防务一号》杂志，放弃预算协调法案还会将特朗普政府 1.5 万亿美元的国防提案缩减至“仍然相当可观”的 1.1 万亿美元。

坎西安说：“许多重大国防计划都得到了两党支持——无人机、弹药、造船和导弹防御。将会成立一个无人机组织，尽管它可能不会是一个作战司令部。”

他还表示，特朗普的金色圆顶和波音F-47（美国空军第六代战斗机，以特朗普在美国总统序列中的位置命名）的品牌重塑也指日可待。

国防部也可能面临来自一些熟悉面孔的压力，其中包括当选众议员的弗吉尼亚州民主党人伊莱恩·卢里亚，她是一位退役海军指挥官，重新赢得了她之前的众议院席位，并且之前曾担任众议院军事委员会的议员。

在南卡罗来纳州，前海军上将南希·拉科尔（Nancy Lacore）去年被赫格塞斯（Hegseth）逼退，她赢得了前众议员南希·梅斯（Nancy Mace）的众议院席位，空出了众议院军事委员会的另一个职位。

哈里森谈到弹劾赫格塞斯时说：“我认为目前参议院还没有足够的票数来罢免他。但如果众议院有相当数量的共和党人投票支持弹劾，迫使赫格塞斯下台，这足以让本届政府难堪。”

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