{"id":791835,"date":"2026-05-12T20:36:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T20:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/791835\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T20:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T20:36:20","slug":"hegseth-grilled-by-lawmakers-on-both-sides-of-the-aisle-on-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/791835\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth grilled by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced tough questions Tuesday from Republican and Democratic lawmakers about the Trump administration\u2019s end game for the Iran war, the conflict\u2019s rising $29 billion cost and its impact on diminishing U.S. weapons stockpiles<\/a>. <\/p>\n

While the Pentagon chief softened his tone from hearings before Congress nearly two weeks ago, notably avoiding the same pointed criticism of lawmakers, he got far more pushback from members of his own Republican Party about the levels of U.S. munitions used in the Iran war and President Donald Trump\u2019s intense criticism of traditional allies<\/a> for not taking part in the conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take issue with the characterization that munitions are depleted in a public forum,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cThat\u2019s not true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as he insisted that the U.S. military has plenty of missile defense systems and other munitions for the Iran war or future conflicts, Hegseth told House and Senate lawmakers overseeing defense spending that the Trump administration is working to ramp up production of weapons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pentagon officials also told lawmakers that the cost of the Iran war has risen to about $29 billion, the vast bulk of which \u2014 roughly $24 billion \u2014 is related to replacing munitions and repairing equipment but also includes operational costs to keep forces deployed. That is up from the overall total of $25 billion that Pentagon comptroller Jay Hurst revealed nearly two weeks ago. He said the updated estimate does not include the cost to repair or rebuild U.S. military sites damaged in the region.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Defense<\/p>\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine arrive to testify at a House Appropriations subcommittee budget hearing for the Department of Defense, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine arrive to testify at a House Appropriations subcommittee budget hearing for the Department of Defense, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n

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Republicans tout the importance of American allies<\/p>\n

Hegseth faced notable pushback from Republicans on the Trump administration\u2019s straining of relations with longtime allies<\/a>, with Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell telling Hegseth that \u201cNATO is the most important military alliance in world history.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n AP AUDIO: Hegseth gets bipartisan grilling on rising costs of the Iran war and Trump\u2019s end game\n <\/p>\n

AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports several Republican lawmakers are pushing back against President Trump\u2019s treatment of traditional U.S. allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to me that a lot of the European countries think that we\u2019re reducing our influence there, they\u2019re sort of on their own,\u201d said McConnell, the GOP chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense. <\/p>\n

Trump has assailed NATO allies and others for not helping reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global shipping corridor, or otherwise offering more support, saying he plans to pull thousands of troops out of Germany<\/a> in the coming months.<\/p>\n

Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, voiced his concerns in a separate hearing, saying that \u201cAmerica First has never meant American alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerican power is most effective when it\u2019s exercised in concert with like-minded nations who share our interests and our values,\u201d Cole said.<\/p>\n

Hegseth gets bipartisan pushback on munitions stockpiles<\/p>\n

The hearings before the powerful House and Senate Appropriations defense subcommittees spanned four hours as they reviewed the Trump administration\u2019s 2027 military budget proposal, which calls for a historic allocation of $1.5 trillion. <\/p>\n

The discussions quickly veered into the handling of a war that appears locked in a stalemate<\/a> as higher fuel prices<\/a> pose political problems for Republicans in the midterm congressional elections.<\/p>\n

California Republican Rep. Ken Calvert, the House subcommittee\u2019s chair, asked about the impact of the Iran war on military funding as well as weapons stockpiles drawn down from the conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuestions persist about whether we are building the depth and reliance required for a high-end conflict,\u201d Calvert said.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Rep. Betty McCollum, the defense subcommittee\u2019s ranking Democrat, pressed Hegseth on whether the military has a plan to draw down troops in the Middle East if Congress passes so-far-unsuccessful efforts<\/a> to end the Iran war.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a plan to escalate if necessary,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cWe have a plan to retrograde if necessary. We have a plan to shift assets.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he would not reveal any next steps publicly. Noting repeated questions from lawmakers over weapons stockpiles, Hegseth said the concerns have been \u201cunhelpfully overstated\u201d and that \u201cwe have plenty of what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the defense industry has been told to \u201cbuild more and build faster,\u201d blaming the military industrial base\u2019s inadequate capacity on previous administrations and U.S. aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia. <\/p>\n

The Center for Strategic and International Studies has painted an alarming picture of U.S. stockpiles of munitions, including interceptors that can defend against incoming enemy missiles on land and sea.<\/p>\n

The think tank said in an April analysis that American forces \u201cexpended more than half of the prewar inventory\u201d on four key weapons systems and that rebuilding to adequate levels for a possible war with China \u201cwill take additional time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump administration faces pressure from the economic impact of the Iran war<\/p>\n

Trump is facing increasing pressure from the economic shocks<\/a> of Iran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world\u2019s oil normally flows. The U.S. military in turn has blockaded Iranian ports<\/a> and the two sides have traded fire<\/a>, with American forces thwarting attacks on their warships and disabling Tehran-linked oil tankers.<\/p>\n

Republican Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned whether the Trump administration anticipated Iran\u2019s closure of the strait, which has surged gasoline prices<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the president is briefed with carefully considered military options.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to me that there\u2019s been a different plan almost daily of, with dealing with this problem, which is why I ask,\u201d said Collins, who joined Democrats last month in a failed vote to halt the conflict and is facing a tough reelection fight.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Sen.<\/p>\n

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, questions Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense hearing on the budget request for the Department of Defense, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, questions Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense hearing on the budget request for the Department of Defense, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n

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Democrats in both hearings repeatedly questioned what the cost of the war would be, from repairing damaged military installations in the Middle East to the rising fuel prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re spending families\u2019 hard-earned tax dollars on a war that many strongly oppose, and you\u2019re forcing people to pay more at the pump,\u201d said Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state. \u201cAnd yet you\u2019re not even providing a real breakdown for the cost of this war.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Sen.<\/p>\n

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., questions Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense hearing on the budget request for the Department of Defense, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., questions Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense hearing on the budget request for the Department of Defense, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n

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Hegseth responded rhetorically: \u201cWhat is the cost of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon? And the fact that this president has been willing to make a historic and courageous choice to confront that it comes with cost \u2014 and we recognize that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, the ranking Democrat on the Senate\u2019s subcommittee, repeatedly asked how the Trump administration will reopen the strait to commercial shipping.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we control it, how do we reopen it?\u201d Coons pressed Hegseth in a tense exchange.<\/p>\n

Hegseth responded defensively, saying the senator was being disingenuous and ignoring the \u201cincredible battlefield successes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coons shot back that he was worried that \u201cyou\u2019ve achieved a series of tactical successes but are on the verge of a strategic loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Barrow reported from Atlanta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced tough questions Tuesday from Republican and Democratic lawmakers about the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":791836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[282167,276,171334,2738,2734,170927,69,57,51,83,6087,323255,357,28022,2741,2735,3097,8132,17111,50,27130,6986,80,16537,180498,52,89,25731,322,67,370,96,93,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-791835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-betty-mccollum","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-christopher-coons","11":"tag-connecticut","12":"tag-ct-state-wire","13":"tag-dan-caine","14":"tag-donald-trump","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-iran","18":"tag-iran-war","19":"tag-jay-hurst","20":"tag-kentucky","21":"tag-ky-state-wire","22":"tag-maine","23":"tag-me-state-wire","24":"tag-middle-east","25":"tag-military-and-defense","26":"tag-mitch-mcconnell","27":"tag-news","28":"tag-patty-murray","29":"tag-pete-hegseth","30":"tag-politics","31":"tag-susan-collins","32":"tag-tom-cole","33":"tag-top-stories","34":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","35":"tag-u-s-department-of-defense","36":"tag-u-s-republican-party","37":"tag-united-states","38":"tag-united-states-government","39":"tag-war-and-unrest","40":"tag-washington-news","41":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}