In a combative appearance before the House Armed Services Committee, House Democrats accused Hegseth and President Donald Trump of offering shifting justifications for the war, obscuring its mounting costs, and refusing to level with Americans about a campaign that has already killed 13 U.S. service members and cost at least $25 billion, according to the Pentagon’s first public estimate.
“The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” Hegseth said in prepared remarks before questioning began, setting an unusually hostile tone for a Cabinet secretary appearing before lawmakers who control the Pentagon’s budget.
For weeks, many Republicans have largely stood behind Trump’s handling of the war. But as casualties rise, energy markets remain volatile, and U.S. forces deepen their presence in the Middle East, Democrats used the hearing to crystallize a broader charge: that tactical military successes have been substituted for a coherent strategy.
Despite some battlefield successes, he said, the broader strategy was “an astounding incompetence” that had left the nation trapped in another Middle East quagmire. Hegseth fired back by questioning the congressman’s motives. “Who are you cheering for?” he demanded. “Your hatred for President Trump blinds you to the truth of the success of this mission.” He added: “I know the American people support that mission, despite your loose talk.”
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the committee’s top Democrat, said the Administration had plunged the country into the very kind of open-ended Middle East conflict Trump once condemned. “Here we are in a full-scale Mideast war, and we’ve seen the costs of that,” Smith said, citing dead and wounded service members, civilian casualties, and instability spreading across Lebanon and Iraq. “One of the big questions that we need to get answered today is, where is this going?”
He then criticized Trump and his top officials for previously saying American strikes last year “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities, only to later argue that war became necessary because Iran posed an imminent nuclear threat.
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified at the same hearing on Wednesday that Iran was “weaker and less capable than they have been in decades.” Yet outside intelligence assessments have been more cautious, noting that Iran still retains thousands of missiles and attack drones and may recover a significant portion of weapons systems buried in the rubble of U.S. strikes.
“You don’t know what we’re paying in terms of gas. You don’t know what we’re paying in terms of food. Your $25 billion number is totally off. It’s the incompetence,” Khanna said after Hegseth was unable to provide information on the economic cost to the American people. Hegseth countered: “What would you pay to ensure Iran does not get a nuclear bomb?”
Earlier in the conflict, Pentagon officials had suggested costs exceeded $11 billion in just the first six days, and Congress had initially been asked for as much as $200 billion for war-related needs. Wednesday’s lower number suggested either a dramatic slowdown in expenditures or a narrower accounting method than critics expected.
Other Democrats focused on operational controversies. Smith sharply criticized the Pentagon’s handling of a strike on a girls’ school in Iran that killed children, saying the Administration’s lack of transparency around the incident created the impression that “we just don’t care.”
Democratic Reps. Pat Ryan of New York and Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania pressed Hegseth over force protection failures after a deadly attack against U.S. troops in Kuwait, citing concerns from survivors that the Pentagon was minimizing what happened. Hegseth insisted commanders had done “every conceivable thing” to protect troops and said casualties were a tragic reality of war.
Yet most Republican allies used their time to defend the war and Hegseth. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who has been critical of the war, praised his leadership and said he had “surpassed all of my expectations.”
“Simply saying we've already won and boasting and bragging trying to belittle and insult the entire world,” Smith said, “that's not going to get us to the posture that we need.”
Hence then, the article about in hostile hearing democrats accuse hegseth of misleading public on iran war progress was published today ( ) and is available on Time ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( In Hostile Hearing, Democrats Accuse Hegseth of Misleading Public on Iran War Progress )
Also on site :