Schumer swings at Hegseth over king crab meals for the troops, but Biden-era receipts show similar tab

By Fox News · Fox News

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y., is facing backlash for criticizing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for the Pentagon’s spending on luxury items, including food for the miliary, despite similar expenses under former Biden administration Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin. The top Senate Democrat said Hegseth’s spending in the final month of fiscal year 2025, $93.4 billion, which included millions of dollars on steak, seafood and furniture, could have instead been used to extend the Affordable Care Act. Social media users panned Schumer online for the remarks, accusing him of cherry-picking a politically convenient area to care about spending, lambasting him for not supporting feeding high-quality meals to military members and citing similar defense spending during the Biden era. "Hegseth spent $93 billion in one month – roughly the cost of extending the ACA tax credits for THREE YEARS," Schumer wrote. "But instead of lowering American’s healthcare costs, Hegseth used millions of taxpayer dollars on fruit baskets, Herman Miller recliners, ice cream machines, Alaskan King Crabs, and a Steinway & Sons grand piano. TRUMP SAYS HE BELIEVES HEGSETH '100%' ON VENEZUELAN DRUG BOAT STRIKE DENIAL AMID ALLEGATIONS "A true grifter in every sense of the word." During the Biden administration, Austin’s spending nearly mirrored Hegseth’s. Food expenses across administrations went toward feeding members of the military, according to the nonprofit Open the Books, which conducted the spending analyses. There is no record of Schumer scrutinizing Austin's spending. Fox News Digital reached out to the senator's office for comment on the matter. Defense spending is historically modest compared to past decades, representing a small fraction of the United States' gross domestic product at 3.7%. Its share of the GDP has decreased significantly since the 1950s, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Schumer's grievance also comes as he leads Senate Democra…