The hearing before the House Armed Services Committee was being held to discuss the administration\u2019s 2027 military budget proposal<\/p>\n
Sceptical Democrats have confronted US defence secretary Pete Hegseth for the first time since the Trump administration went to war with Iran, bringing tense exchanges over a costly conflict that has been waged without congressional approval.<\/p>\n
The war has cost 25 billion dollars so far, according to Pentagon numbers presented to the House Armed Services Committee during the contentious hearing that was ostensibly focused on the administration\u2019s 2027 military budget proposal, which would boost defence spending to a historic 1.5 trillion dollars.<\/p>\n
While Republicans focused on the details of military budgeting and voiced support for the operation, Democrats pivoted to the ballooning costs of the war, the huge drawdown of critical US munitions and the bombing of a school that killed children.<\/p>\n
Some politicians also questioned President Donald Trump\u2019s dealings with allies and his shifting justification for the conflict.<\/p>\n
Mr Hegseth dismissed the criticism as political and rebuked politicians who pushed him for answers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,\u201d Mr Hegseth said.<\/p>\n
Wednesday\u2019s hearing stretched nearly six hours as Democrats and some Republicans questioned Mr Hegseth over the war and his ousting of several top military leaders.<\/p>\n
In one tense exchange, Mr Hegseth told Democratic representative Adam Smith that Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities were obliterated in a 2025 attack by the US, prompting Mr Smith to question the Trump administration\u2019s reasoning for starting the Iran war less than a year later.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to start this war, you just said 60 days ago, because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat,\u201d said Mr Smith, the ranking Democrat on the committee. \u201cNow you\u2019re saying that it was completely obliterated?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Hegseth responded by saying that Iran \u201chad not given up their nuclear ambitions\u201d and still had thousands of missiles.<\/p>\n
Mr Smith said the war \u201cleft us at exactly the same place we were before\u201d.<\/p>\n
Democrats accused Mr Hegseth of misleading Americans about the reasons for the conflict and said rising fuel prices are now threatening the wallets of millions of people in the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecretary Hegseth, you have been lying to the American public about this war from day one and so has the president,\u201d said representative John Garamendi of California, who called the war \u201ca geopolitical calamity\u201d, a \u201cstrategic blunder\u201d and a \u201cself-inflicted wound to America\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Hegseth blasted Mr Garamendi\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you cheering for here?\u201d he asked the politician, adding that \u201cyour hatred for President Trump blinds you\u201d to the success of the war.<\/p>\n
The defence secretary faced intense questions from representative Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat, about his decision to oust the Army\u2019s top uniformed officer, General Randy George, one of several top military officers to be dismissed since Mr Trump\u2019s re-election.<\/p>\n
Ms Houlahan said Gen George was deeply respected by both members of the military and Congress and asked why Mr Hegseth fired him. Mr Hegseth\u2019s response that \u201cnew leadership\u201d was needed failed to satisfy Ms Houlahan.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have no way of explaining why you fired one of the most decorated and remarkable men,\u201d Ms Houlahan began before Mr Hegseth interrupted her. \u201cWe needed new leadership,\u201d he repeated.<\/p>\n
The Pentagon announced this month that navy secretary John Phelan was stepping down. Mr Hegseth previously removed Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the navy\u2019s top uniformed officer, and General Jim Slife, the air force\u2019s number two leader, while Mr Trump fired General Charles \u201cCQ\u201d Brown Jr as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.<\/p>\n
Republican representative Don Bacon of Nebraska said that while Mr Hegseth is empowered to make personnel changes, he shares what he called \u201cbipartisan concern\u201d about the firings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a huge bipartisan majority here that had confidence in the army chief of staff and the secretary of the navy,\u201d Mr Bacon said. \u201cAnd I would just point out it may be constitutionally right\u2026 but it doesn\u2019t make it right or wise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Hegseth has said the changes are part of building a \u201cwarrior culture\u201d at the Pentagon.<\/p>\n
Republican representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina defended Mr Hegseth\u2019s personnel moves, saying he is \u201ctrying to innovate and trying to change the way we do business\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad that you\u2019re firing people,\u201d Ms Mace said. \u201cThere are people there that are getting in your way. They need to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the extended hearing, Mr Hegseth detailed plans to increase pay for service members and upgrade munitions while also announcing that, as of Tuesday, the Pentagon had authorised 400 million dollars in military aid for Ukraine in its fight against Russia.<\/p>\n
But the debate and the questions were dominated by the war in Iran.<\/p>\n
While a fragile ceasefire is now in place, the US and Israel launched the war February 28 without congressional oversight. House and Senate Democrats have failed to pass multiple war power resolutions that would have required President Trump to halt the conflict until Congress authorises further action.<\/p>\n
Republicans say they back Mr Trump\u2019s wartime leadership, for now, citing Iran\u2019s nuclear programme, the potential for talks to resume and the high stakes of withdrawal. Still, Republican politicians are eager for the conflict to end, and some are eyeing future votes that could become an important test for the president if the war drags on.<\/p>\n
Democrats questioned Mr Hegseth over the war\u2019s economic impact and rising fuel costs, noting Mr Trump\u2019s promise to lower consumer costs. Mr Hegseth responded by citing the threat posed by Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is the cost of Iran having a nuclear weapon that they wield?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Republicans expressed support for Mr Trump\u2019s decision to strike Iran, including Ms Mace, who in late March had expressed concerns about the justification for the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe longer this war continues, the faster it will lose the support of Congress and the American people,\u201d she wrote in a social media post.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Ms Mace noted her past concerns but said she is \u201cimpressed with where we are today.\u201d She told Mr Hegseth: \u201cEverything I have seen, you have surpassed all of my expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s closing of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor for the world\u2019s oil, has sent fuel prices skyrocketing and posed problems for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections.<\/p>\n
The US has imposed a naval blockade of Iranian shipping and three American aircraft carriers are in the Middle East for the first time in more than 20 years.<\/p>\n
The countries appear locked in a stalemate. Mr Trump told Axios on Wednesday that he is rejecting Iran\u2019s proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting the US blockade.<\/p>\n
Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The hearing before the House Armed Services Committee was being held to discuss the administration\u2019s 2027 military budget…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,13,14,6,11,23,12,15,16,5,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-462616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-featured-news","11":"tag-featurednews","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-latest-news","14":"tag-latest-news-ticker","15":"tag-latestnews","16":"tag-main-news","17":"tag-mainnews","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-top-stories","20":"tag-topstories","21":"tag-world","22":"tag-world-news","23":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116497381194987887","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}