Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, who is President Trump’s nominee to be the next Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, told lawmakers today that the Department of Defense’s (DoD) budget and requirements process need significant reforms to better address evolving threats facing the United States.
“We must have a sense of urgency related to the budget. I think it comes down to ultimately finding more deployable or allocatable capital,” Caine said during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Caine pledged to collaborate with the Trump administration to ensure defense budgets balance capabilities and capacity for current and future threats. He emphasized the need for a reevaluation of DoD spending priorities, focusing on cost savings, reprogramming funds, and securing a larger budget to meet national security needs.
In addition to budgetary concerns, Caine stressed the importance of improving the speed and adaptability of the DoD’s requirements process.
“Technology is evolving so fast, our requirements process does not evolve at the same time,” he said, highlighting the growing gap between rapid technological advancements and the slower pace at which the DoD responds to these changes – particularly in the areas of weaponry and defense systems.
Caine explained that in its budgeting and requirements process DoD needs to maintain a global perspective on military needs, which includes input from combatant commanders in the processes.
“No two combatant commands have the same requirements, and only the Joint Staff has the global view on those requirements, along with [the Office of the Secretary of Defense],” he said.
Caine also expressed support for Sen. Roger Wicker’s, R-Miss., “Restoring Freedom’s Forge: American Innovation Unleashed” proposal, praising it as a promising approach to modernizing the DoD’s requirements process. The proposal outlines key reforms in five critical areas: cutting red tape, fostering innovation, increasing competition, enabling decisive action, and modernizing the budget process.
Caine emphasized that these reforms could significantly enhance the DoD’s ability to meet evolving defense needs and improve overall efficiency.
“I think it certainly lays out a lot of good markers for improvement in the requirements process,” he said.
President Donald Trump nominated Caine to serve as his top uniformed military adviser following the dismissal of former Air Force General C.Q. Brown.
Brown was serving a four-year term meant to end in September 2027. The Pentagon’s civilian leadership changes from one administration to the next, but the uniformed members of the U.S. armed forces are meant to remain apolitical, carrying out the policies of both Democratic and Republican administrations.