A version of this story appeared in the daily Threat Status newsletter from The Washington Times. Click here to receive Threat Status delivered directly to your inbox each weekday.
A key senator announced Tuesday the formation of a Senate caucus to help advance President Trump’s Golden Dome missile shield proposal. Former high-level military officials and defense analysts strongly endorsed the idea of a single commander, widely expected to be Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, vice chief of space operations, to oversee the ambitious undertaking.
Sen. Tim Sheehy, Montana Republican, made the announcement at Threat Status’ Golden Dome for America event in Pentagon City.
His comments underscored the belief in national security circles, including those on Capitol Hill, that the Golden Dome will require the kinds of deep, large-scale cooperation and coordination among various arms of the government and private industry seen only a handful of times in recent American history.
As a cutting-edge project designed to protect the entire continental U.S. from ballistic and hypersonic missile attacks, and as a system employing space-based capabilities, artificial intelligence and other 21st-century tools, the Golden Dome is reminiscent of the groundbreaking efforts to build the atomic bomb and send humans to the moon, Mr. Sheehy said.
“That’s why I’m announcing today the formation of the Golden Dome Caucus in the U.S. Senate, because I think a project of this scope, like we saw in the Apollo program and the Manhattan Project, is going to require a far more close relationship between the appropriators, the [Department of Defense], our legislators and industry to ensure that this project isn’t just built, but it evolves with the threat in real time,” Mr. Sheehy said.
Joining Mr. Sheehy at the event was Sen. Deb Fischer, Nebraska Republican and chair of the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces. Ms. Fischer said the moment is ripe for the kind of significant missile shield investment that will fundamentally transform the way America protects itself, especially as adversaries such as China and Russia make rapid advances in their missile programs.
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Golden Dome for America
“For the last 40 years, we have found ourselves in a cycle where every 20 years or so, we prioritize homeland missile defense, make progress and then slide back into a new status quo,” she said. “Under the current Trump administration, we have the opportunity to make a generational leap forward in missile defense through the Golden Dome program.”
The administration reiterated its commitment to the Golden Dome project in recent weeks. Mr. Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget request proposes a record $1 trillion in defense spending, a 13% increase over the current year, partly driven by the missile defense push. The White House said the budget “makes a down-payment on the development and deployment of a Golden Dome for America … that would protect the U.S. from missile threats coming from any adversary.”
The project is expected to receive about $25 billion in initial funding. The full cost will surely be much higher, especially when long-term maintenance and upgrades are factored into the plan.
The Golden Dome is expected to be one of the most complex national security initiatives in decades. A host of questions remain, including some fundamental matters at the heart of the project.
Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, a top developer of some of the world’s most advanced rockets and a key player in the race for missile defense, made the case at Tuesday’s event that the Golden Dome should comprise three elements: a space-based layer of interceptors, sea-based missile defense systems off both American coasts and in the Gulf of America, and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.
THAAD anti-ballistic missile defense batteries at strategic ground locations across the U.S. would be a final layer of defense to guard major cities if a missile makes it through the first defensive layers.
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Other specialists argue that the U.S. shouldn’t spend significant money on ground-based THAAD batteries and that precious Golden Dome dollars should instead be funneled mostly toward space-based assets.
The Golden Dome czar
Just hours after the Threat Status event, the Defense Intelligence Agency released an unclassified assessment laying out the various missile threats confronting the U.S. The most pressing dangers include intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, boosted hypersonic weapons, land-attack cruise missiles and fractional orbital bombardment systems.
To build a national missile shield capable of dealing with all those, Mr. Trump is weighing the appointment of a Golden Dome czar to oversee the entire project, said several sources familiar with the deliberations inside the White House. The announcement could be made soon, sources said, though internal talks are continuing about how much power a Golden Dome czar might have, especially over the Defense Department’s complex and often laborious acquisition process.
However, there seems to be some agreement that Gen. Guetlein is the most likely candidate. As the Space Force’s vice chief of space operations, he works closely with much of the technology that would make up the Golden Dome missile shield.
Panelists at Tuesday’s event said it is vital that one person be at the top lest the entire project become mired in interagency disputes, murky mandates and responsibilities, and turf wars.
“It should be a four-star, that will be able to carry the weight necessary, and I suspect it will be Gen. Guetlein. Someone with a space and missile defense background,” said Mark Montgomery, who co-leads the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Air and Missile Defense Program. “We do need one person in charge, one throat to choke. They need to absolutely have one person who knows and says, ‘What’s the vision? What are the resources required? What are your gaps? How can we help?’”
Retired Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, the former commander of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also endorsed the notion of a single person in charge.
“It needs to be a single commander who is empowered and charged with operating all the way from space-based capabilities coming after the homeland and all the way down to counter [unmanned aircraft systems] and everything,” Mr. VanHerck said.
“If you bifurcate this with multiple commanders, we create bureaucracy, we create challenges to command and control and the decision-making process,” he said during a fireside chat with former high-level CIA officer and regular Threat Status contributor Daniel N. Hoffman.
The Golden Dome for America event, organized and hosted by The Washington Times’ Threat Status, brought together retired military officials, key U.S. lawmakers, top academic researchers and defense industry leaders for a day of in-depth discussions about the proposed missile shield, its goals, its hurdles to implementation and the politics around the project.
• Threat Status, a hub for The Washington Times’ national security content, produces a daily newsletter, weekly podcasts and influencer videos covering defense and intelligence news.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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