Hegseth faces bipartisan grilling about weapons drawdown during the Iran war
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced tough questions Tuesday from Republican and Democratic lawmakers about the Trump administration's end game for the Iran war, the cost of the conflict and its impact on diminishing U.S. weapons stockpiles.
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 the U.S. munitions used in the Iran war and President Donald Trump’s intense criticism of traditional allies, including NATO countries, for not taking part in the conflict.
“I take issue with the characterization that munitions are depleted in a public forum,” Hegseth told House lawmakers. “That’s not true.”
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 outlined the Trump administration’s efforts to ramp up production of weapons and other military capabilities in two hearings before Senate and House panels.
The cost of the Iran war has risen to about $29 billion, the vast bulk of which — $24 billion — is related to replacing and repairing munitions but also includes operational costs to keep forces deployed, Pentagon comptroller Jay Hurst told lawmakers. That's up from $25 billion that he told lawmakers nearly two weeks ago.
Hegseth faced notable pushback from Republicans on the Trump administration's straining of relations with longtime allies, with Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell telling Hegseth that “NATO is the most important military alliance in world history.”
“It seems to me that a lot of the European countries think that we’re reducing our influence there, they’re sort of on their own,” said McConnell, the GOP chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense.
Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, voiced his concerns in a separate hearing, saying that “America First has never meant American alone.”
“American power is most effective when it’s exercised in concert with like-minded nations who share our interests and our values,” Cole said.
The powerful House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees that oversee defense spending held back-to-back hearings to review the Trump administration’s 2027 military budget proposal, which calls for a historic allocation of $1.5 trillion. But the discussions quickly veered into the handling of a war that appears locked in a stalemate as higher fuel prices pose political problems for Republicans in the midterm congressional elections.
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, told Hegseth that the "question must be answered at the end of this crisis: What have we accomplished and at what cost?”
“This administration has not presented Congress with any kind of clear or coherent strategy week to week, day to day, hour to hour," DeLauro said. "The rationale shifts, the objectives change. The end game is ill-defined when it is defined at all.”
California Republican Rep. Ken Calvert, the House subcommittee's chair, also asked about the impact of the Iran war on military funding as well as the U.S. military's weapons stockpiles.
“Questions persist about whether we are building the depth and reliance required for a high-end conflict,” Calvert said.
Minnesota Rep. Betty McCollum, the defense subcommittee's 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 to end the Iran war.
“We have a plan to escalate if necessary," Hegseth said. "We have a plan to retrograde if necessary. We have a plan to shift assets.”
He said he would not reveal any next steps publicly. Noting repeated questions from lawmakers over the military's weapons stockpiles, drawn down from the Iran war, Hegseth said the concerns have been “unhelpfully overstated” and that "we have plenty of what we need.”
He said the defense industry has been told to "build more and build faster,” blaming the military industrial base's inadequate capacity on previous administrations and U.S. aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.
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.
The think tank said in an April analysis that American forces “expended more than half of the prewar inventory” on four key weapons systems and that rebuilding to adequate levels for a possible war with China “will take additional time.”
Trump is facing increasing pressure from the economic shocks of Iran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor where 20% of the world's oil normally flows. The U.S. military in turn has blockaded Iranian ports and the two sides have traded fire, with American forces thwarting attacks on their warships and disabling Tehran-linked oil tankers.
Trump said Monday that the ceasefire is on “massive life support” and criticized Iran for its latest proposal, pointing to his demands that Iran significantly limit its nuclear program.
“I would call it the weakest right now after reading that piece of garbage they sent us,” Trump said.
The Republican president also said he wanted to suspend the federal gas tax to help Americans shoulder surging fuel prices. He has previously said higher costs are worth it to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Tuesday's hearings were giving a mostly new group of lawmakers the chance to grill or applaud Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the planning and execution of the war.
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Barrow reported from Atlanta.
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