Trump Nominee to Oversee U.S. Nuclear Arsenal Agrees with Warren: Cost Transparency is Crucial for National Security
Warren also sounds alarm on Trump call to resume nuclear weapons testing
Warren: “The President may have launched us on a path of a new arms race when he announced that we should base our testing of nuclear weapons on what other countries, including states like North Korea, do to terrorize the world.”
Washington, D.C. — At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pushed Vice Admiral Richard A. Correll, nominee to be admiral and Commander of the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM), to commit to supporting independent and transparent assessments of nuclear weapons programs. Senator Warren also spoke out against President Trump’s recent call for the United States to resume nuclear weapons testing.
As STRATCOM Commander, Vice Admiral Correll would be in charge of managing the United States’ current and future nuclear arsenal, the expansion of which is expected to cost nearly $1 trillion over the next decade. However, the military has a history of misleading Congress about the real cost of underestimating the cost of nuclear programs. Systems like Sentinel, the land-based nuclear missile program set to replace Minuteman III, have turned out to cost almost double the estimates the Air Force originally provided to Congress.
“This should be a flashing red light for this committee and for our constitutional oversight duties. This is billions, even trillions of taxpayer dollars that we are talking about, and the safety and security of the people—and the land—of the United States itself. We need independent assessments for what is happening here,” said Senator Warren.
“[T]hat doesn’t just cost taxpayers, it jeopardizes national security,” said Senator Warren, pointing out that higher-than-expected costs have forced the Air Force to consider postponing and scaling back its next-generation tanker, airlifter, and Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter programs.
Vice Admiral Correll agreed that it is important for the military to have an accurate estimate of the cost and delivery timelines of new nuclear weapons. He committed to providing his best military advice to Congress on nuclear weapons programs but stopped short of committing to not delaying independent studies or independent recommendations on Sentinel or other nuclear programs.
Senator Warren also raised concerns about calls to make the Sentinel program mobile.
“They claim it’s going to save money, but history and other analysts indicate it is much more likely that it will increase cost and complexity. And what would we get for wasting billions of dollars more? Nuclear weapons being driven through American cities and towns,” said Senator Warren.
When asked to commit to transparency about the cost and complexity of making Sentinel mobile, Vice Admiral Correll agreed to doing so “by, with, and through the Department.”
Senator Warren has long pushed for transparency around the Sentinel program, including calling on the Pentagon to consider whether it might be more cost-effective to refurbish and extend the existing Minuteman III program. While one of the previous STRATCOM commanders told Congress that there was “no more margin” to extend Minuteman III, the Government Accountability Office reported last month that the Air Force now believes it can extend the program through 2050.
Transcript: Hearing to Consider the Nomination of Vice Admiral Richard A. Correll, USN to be Admiral and Commander of the United States Strategic Command
Senate Armed Services Committee
October 30, 2025
Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Madam Chairman. And I want to say ‘thank you’ to Senator Rosen.
I want to follow up but it’s clear you’re not going to answer much here in an open setting. But I’d like to join you when the meeting goes to the SCIF to understand the seriousness of this moment and what it means for our nation. Last night, the President may have launched us on a path of a new arms race when he announced that we should base our testing of nuclear weapons on what other countries, including states like North Korea, do to terrorize the world.
At the same time, the Trump administration is cracking down on independent oversight and reporting at the Pentagon. This should be a flashing red light for this committee and for our constitutional oversight duties. This is billions, even trillions of taxpayer dollars that we are talking about, and the safety and security of the people—and the land—of the United States itself. We need independent assessments for what is happening here. And we need somebody who will be candid with us about both their assessment and the facts about what’s going on. If I can, I will ask some other questions that I think we can answer appropriately in this setting.
I want to say congratulations on your nomination, Vice Admiral Correll. As the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, it’s going to be your job to manage our current and future nuclear arsenal. The Congressional Budget Office estimates our plans to build new nuclear weapons will cost $946 billion just over the next ten years. That’s almost a trillion dollars, and that’s just an estimate. Systems like Sentinel, the land-based nuclear missile program, have turned out to cost almost double their original estimates given to Congress. And that doesn’t just cost taxpayers, it jeopardizes national security. Ballooning costs have forced the Air Force to consider postponing and scaling back its next-generation tanker, airlifter and next generation air dominance fighter programs.
The military services are responsible for acquisition programs, but as the STRATCOM commander and member of the Nuclear Weapons Council, you’re responsible for overseeing nuclear weapons programs, and your military advice on these programs is very influential.
Vice Admiral Correll, would you agree that it is important for military planning to have an accurate estimate of how much a new nuclear weapon will cost and when it will be delivered?
Vice Admiral Richard Correll, nominee to be admiral and Commander of the United States Strategic Command: Yes, senator.
Senator Warren: You agree, we need those basic facts? Look, we need to know how much things cost. But the Air Force provided Congress with a rosy cost estimate for Sentinel, which turned out to cost an extra $60 billion over their estimate. And they did this while declaring “there was no more margin” to extend Minuteman III, the program that Sentinel is replacing, past 2036. Well, it turns out that wasn’t true either, as the Government Accountability Office revealed last month the military believes we can extend Minuteman III through 2050. So here we have this crucial program. The dollar figure was wrong and the time was wrong on it.
We need to take an honest look at these programs and not shield them from independent oversight.
Vice Admiral Correll, do you commit to ensuring that STRATCOM will not stand in the way of any independent studies or independent recommendations on Sentinel or any other program moving forward?
Vice Admiral Correll: Senator, I commit to providing my best military advice in a candid and forthright manner within the Department and to this committee.
Senator Warren: I appreciate that. It is sorely needed. Think tanks influential with the administration want to add to the Sentinel program by making it mobile. They claim it’s going to save money, but history and other analysts indicate it is much more likely that it will increase cost and complexity. And what would we get for wasting billions of dollars more? Nuclear weapons being driven through American cities and towns.
Vice Admiral Correll, if you were told to consider a mobile Sentinel option again and your military analysis showed that it would add cost or complexity, would you commit to sharing those results as part of your military advice with Congress?
Vice Admiral Correll: I would commit to that and that would be by, with, and through the Department.
Senator Warren: I appreciate that. It is more critical now than ever before to know that we have military leaders who are willing to be honest with Congress about our national security.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
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