McConnell to take over as Senate’s top defense appropriator in next Congress

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), after stepping down as GOP leader, said Thursday he will chair the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee in the next Congress.

The Senate Appropriations Committee previously advanced its $852.2 billion fiscal year 2025 defense appropriations bill, which funds the Department of Defense and funds the ongoing refurbishment of the nuclear triad. The 2025 appropriations bill also funded the Navy’s Nuclear-Armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missile program $252 million above the budget request.

“America’s national security interests face the gravest array of threats since the Second World War. At this critical moment, a new Senate Republican majority has a responsibility to secure the future of U.S. leadership and primacy. I intend to play an active role in this urgent mission as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense [(SAC-D)], and I look forward to working closely with incoming Chair Susan Collins to accomplish our shared goal,” McConnell said in a statement.

McConnell will take over the upper chamber’s top defense appropriator post from Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who lost his reelection bid to Republican and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy.

The Kentucky Republican will now lead the SAC-D panel as Republicans are poised to pursue boosts to defense spending, with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), in position to serve as the next leader of the Senate Armed Services Committee, having previously detailed an agenda to increase defense spending to five percent of the gross domestic product.

A version of this story first appeared in Exchange Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily.