Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Hit with Congressional Travel Cut and Flu Outbreak at Lackland Base

Senate Republicans have attached a provision to the National Defense Authorization Act that would slash Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget by 75% unless he supplies documentation on lethal boat strikes in the Atlantic and Pacific, the February double‑tap that killed more than 120 Iranian schoolchildren, and the bombing of a girls’ school in Minab, Iran. The measure also requires the Pentagon to notify Congress within seven days of any senior officer departures.

Separately, after Hegseth rescinded the flu‑vaccine mandate for service members, nearly 160 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio fell ill with influenza, resulting in one death. The outbreak prompted the Air Force to reinstate a mandatory flu‑shot requirement for recruits at the base.