WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth clashed with Democratic lawmakers in Congress for a second day Thursday, rejecting senators’ accusations that the Iran war was launched without evidence of an imminent threat and waged with no coherent strategy.
In his opening statements, Hegseth called Democratic lawmakers “reckless naysayers” and “defeatists from the cheap seats” who have failed to recognize the many successes of the U.S. military
against the Islamic Republic over the last two months and in other operations since President Donald Trump returned to office.
Hegseth said Trump has had the courage “unlike other presidents to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon and that their nuclear blackmail never succeeds. We have the best negotiator in the world driving a great deal.”
Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, did not hold back in his opening statement, dressing down the defense secretary’s efforts to remake the military’s culture and warning that his actions could do long-term harm.
Reed argued that the war with Iran has left the U.S. in a worse strategic position because the Strait of Hormuz is closed and 13 U.S. military members have been killed. Many others have been injured, and equipment has been destroyed.
“The American people’s trust in our military took 250 years to build. You are dismantling it in a fraction of that time,” Reed concluded.
Hegseth received a warmer welcome from Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who kicked off the hearing by noting that the U.S. is in the most dangerous security environment since World War II. He also praised Trump's use of the military.
Through the war against Iran, Trump “has worked to remove the regime’s conventional military capabilities and force it back to the table for a permanent solution,” Wicker said.
He also praised Trump's budget proposal for 2027.
“This $1.5 trillion request is chock full of important programs and initiatives that are absolutely necessary to secure American interest in the 21st century,” he said.
A day earlier, Hegseth battled with Democrats during a nearly six-hour House Armed Services Committee hearing, where he faced sharp questioning over the war's costs in dollars, lives and diminishing stockpiles of critical weapons.
The Senate committee is hearing a similar presentation on the Trump administration’s 2027 military budget proposal, which would boost defense spending to historic levels. Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, are again stressing the need for more drones, missile defense systems and warships.
They are also likely to face tough questions about American troop levels in Europe after Trump on Wednesday leveled a new threat against NATO ally Germany, suggesting he could soon reduce the U.S. military presence in the country as he feuds with Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the Iran war.
If Wednesday's hearing offered any indication, Republican senators may focus on the details of military budgeting and voice support for the operation in Iran. Democrats are expected to press for answers about strategy in the conflict, now in a tenuous ceasefire, and Hegseth's firing of top military leaders.
Democrats call it a costly war of choice that lacks congressional approval or oversight. But they have failed to pass multiple war powers resolutions that would have required Trump to halt the conflict until Congress authorizes further action.
Under the War Powers Act of 1973, Congress must declare war or authorize use of force within 60 days — a deadline that arrives Friday. The law provides for a potential 30-day extension, but the Republican administration has not indicated publicly whether Trump will seek it.
The administration is in “active conversations” with lawmakers on addressing the 60-day timeline, according to a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
Meanwhile, questions that lawmakers have wanted to ask since the war began on Feb. 28 were answered — or evaded — at Wednesday's hearing.
For example, the war has cost $25 billion, mostly in munitions, Pentagon officials said. But Hegseth refused to answer questions about how much longer the war would last or how much more it could cost.
Hegseth also said a deadly strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed more than 165 people, including children, remains under investigation. The Associated Press has reported that growing evidence pointed to U.S. culpability for the strike, which hit a school adjacent to a Revolutionary Guard base.
Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan of New York questioned Hegseth over whether the deaths of six American soldiers by a drone strike in Kuwait could have been prevented. Hegseth did not answer the question directly but said the military took proactive measures to protect American forces.
In another tense exchange, Hegseth told Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington that Iran’s nuclear facilities were obliterated in U.S. strikes last June. That led Smith to question the Trump administration’s reasoning for starting the war in Iran less than a year later.
“We had to start this war, you just said 60 days ago, because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat,” said Smith, the ranking Democrat on the committee. “Now you’re saying that it was completely obliterated?”
Hegseth responded by saying that the Iranians “had not given up their nuclear ambitions” and still had thousands of missiles.
Smith said the war “left us at exactly the same place we were before.”
The defense secretary also faced questions about his decision to oust the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George, one of several top military officers to be dismissed since Trump returned to office.
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Kinnard reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
