Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed back against reports that the United States is facing a serious shortage of munitions, calling it a story driven by the media rather than reality. His comments came on CBS News‘ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan and stood in contrast to testimony he gave before the Senate earlier this year. During an April 30 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request, which came weeks after a ceasefire in the war with Iran, Hegseth testified that replenishing the stockpile could take “months and years.” He described that timeline as “fast” and noted that the speed would depend on the weapon system involved. On Sunday, however, Hegseth insisted that the situation is not a crisis. “That is a manufactured story that the media wants to peddle and ultimately our stockpiles are great, and they’re only getting stronger,” he said on the program. Hegseth walks back April testimony on munitions timeline as stockpile debate continues When host Margaret Brennan pressed him on his earlier Senate testimony, Hegseth appeared to soften his previous remarks. “I speculated some munitions take more time than others,” he said, adding, “we’ve got lots of them.” Hegseth also attributed some of the current stockpile challenges to decisions made before the Trump administration took office. “The Biden administration gave away hundreds of billions to Ukraine, and so President Trump had to refill, and he has, and we have, in real time,” he said. He added, “We’re building more than ever before.”