Mike Waltz said the U.S. military has “everything that it needs” for operations against Iran, rejecting reports that weapons stockpiles are running low. On Sunday, he told Meet the Press that he had “verified this every which way” and that the campaign could proceed as effectively as needed.
He also said the people leaking the reporting “deserve to be in jail.” Waltz’s remarks came as the U.S. launched nearly two weeks of consecutive nightly attacks on Iran and as Pete Hegseth sought $67 billion in supplemental funding to expand production and speed up delivery of weapons.
Mike Waltz and Pete Hegseth
Waltz described Hegseth as inheriting “a depleted situation” from Ukraine, the ongoing fight with the Houthis under the Biden administration, and a depleted military under the Biden administration. He said the Trump administration is moving to new types of munitions, cheaper munitions, new technologies, and new defense budgets to rebuild the military.
That funding request gives lawmakers a direct choice: approve the supplemental money and help accelerate production, or leave the Pentagon to stretch existing inventories while operations continue. Hegseth told Sen. Mark Kelly in April that it could take “months and years” to rebuild the weapons stockpile, a timeline Kelly later criticized as “by their own making.”
Mark Kelly and Meet the Press
Kelly said in a separate interview with Kristen Welker that he has not yet made a final decision on whether to vote for the supplemental funding. He also said, “They’re not keeping track,” and added, “What they’re asking for is not reasonable.”
Waltz pushed back on the idea that Donald Trump had decided against escalation, saying he would “not say that” and that “the president is keeping all options on the table.” He added, “Talks are ongoing, they’re happening at every level,” while NBC News had reported that commanders are allowing some Iranian attacks through U.S. defenses to preserve the Pentagon’s weapons supply.
The dispute now sits on two tracks at once: the military campaign continues, and lawmakers still have to decide whether Hegseth’s $67 billion request is enough to refill what the fighting is consuming. How depleted the stockpile is, and how fast it can be rebuilt, is the part that still drives the fight in Washington.
