In his first major public appearance before Congress since the beginning of the Iran war, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday that the biggest adversary the United States faced was not Iran\u2019s military, but the \u201cfeckless and defeatist words\u201d of Democrats and some Republican lawmakers.<\/p>\n
It was a preview of what turned out to be a contentious debate over the Iran war.<\/p>\n
The Defense Department\u2019s nearly $1.45 trillion budget request was ostensibly the reason for the House Armed Services Committee hearing, but lawmakers made little mention of it during several hours of questioning.<\/p>\n
Mr. Hegseth offered a full-throated defense of \u201cOperation Epic Fury,\u201d which began on Feb. 28. Sitting next to Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Jay Hurst, the Pentagon comptroller, Mr. Hegseth repeatedly stressed that the war was necessary because Iran posed an \u201cexistential threat\u201d to the United States.<\/p>\n
The defense secretary grew testy during the hearing and mocked the questions of Democratic lawmakers, prompting a rare admonition from the committee chairman.<\/p>\n
Here are the main takeaways from the hearing.<\/p>\n
The Iran war has cost $25 billion so far, according to the Pentagon.<\/p>\n
Mr. Hurst said that figure is mostly representative of the tens of thousands of bombs and missiles<\/a> used in the conflict. It was the first time the Defense Department has publicly provided a cost estimate for the war.<\/p>\n The war has consumed a large percentage<\/a> of the Pentagon\u2019s longest-range conventional munitions, such as air-launched stealth cruise missiles and ground-launched Precision Strike Missiles.<\/a><\/p>\n A 14th service member has died during the war.<\/p>\n General Caine mentioned that 14 U.S. military service members have died as part of Operation Epic Fury, although the Pentagon\u2019s casualty analysis system online<\/a> showed 13 U.S. deaths as of Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n The 14th service member was Maj. Sorffly Davius of the Army National Guard, who according to ABC News<\/a> died on March 6 after a medical emergency in Kuwait. Two Pentagon representatives, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, confirmed the death.<\/p>\n Hegseth made a false claim about U.S. support to Ukraine.<\/p>\n The defense secretary said the Biden administration provided Ukraine with \u201chundreds of billions of dollars\u2019 worth of munitions\u201d after Russia invaded in 2022. However, the true tally is far smaller.<\/p>\n According to a New York Times analysis of Pentagon records and statements, the Biden administration sent Ukraine $33.8 billion in weapons from Defense Department stockpiles under a program called the Presidential Drawdown Authority. The Biden administration also gave Ukraine $33.2 billion in cash to purchase weapons directly from U.S. defense companies under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. That totals about $67 billion in military support since the war began.<\/p>\n Following the last disbursement of weapons from the Pentagon\u2019s stockpile on Jan. 9, 2025<\/a>, about $3.8 billion in congressionally authorized funds remains unspent for drawdowns of existing arms for Ukraine.<\/p>\n He attacked critics of the Iran War.<\/p>\n Mr. Hegseth, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a junior officer in the Army National Guard, took exception to members of Congress who have characterized the Iran War as \u201ca quagmire.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been two months,\u201d Mr. Hegseth retorted. \u201cYou want to talk about a forever war?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know the American people support that mission, despite your loose talk and words like \u2018quagmire,\u2019\u201d Mr. Hegseth said. Recent polls, however, show a minority of Americans approve of the U.S. military action in Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr. Hegseth also dismissed queries from Democrats about higher gas and food prices as a result of the war as \u201cgotcha\u201d questions. \u201cWhat would you pay to ensure that Iran doesn\u2019t get a nuclear bomb?\u201d the defense secretary said.<\/p>\n And he defended actions that legal experts have called war crimes.<\/p>\n