Hegseth faces a second day of Democrats grilling him over the Iran war

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will face a second day of grilling from Democrats on Capitol Hill, with senators getting their first opportunity on Thursday to confront or praise the Pentagon chief over his handling of the Iran war.

Hegseth battled with Democrats — and some Republicans — a day earlier during a nearly six-hour House Armed Services Committee hearing, where he faced sharp questioning over the war’s costs in dollars, lives and the diminishing stockpiles of critical weapons.

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hear a similar presentation on the Trump administration’s 2027 military budget proposal, which would boost defense spending to a historic $1.5 trillion. Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, will again stress the need for more drones, missile defense systems and warships.

They are now also likely to face tough questions about American troop levels in Europe after President Donald 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 is 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 on 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 Congress has failed to pass multiple war powers resolutions that would have required lawmakers to approve military action.

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 so far, 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 many 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 questioned Hegseth over whether the deaths of six American soldiers by a drone strike in Kuwait could have been prevented. Hegseth didn’t 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 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.

Hegseth said “new leadership” was needed, a claim that failed to satisfy Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat.

“You have no way of explaining why you fired one of the most decorated and remarkable men,” Houlahan began before Hegseth interrupted her. “We needed new leadership,” he repeated.