Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in Wednesday’s House Armed Services hearing, faced his first questions since the Iran war began and opened by labeling skeptical lawmakers “reckless, feckless and defeatist.”
- Pentagon budget officials told the committee the conflict has cost about $25 billion so far, with most of the spending on munitions, as members pressed for details on stockpile drawdowns and military readiness.
- Democrats challenged the war’s legal basis and strategy, pointing to an exchange where Rep. Adam Smith questioned Hegseth over claiming Iran’s nuclear facilities were previously “obliterated” after justifying the new war as a response to an imminent nuclear threat.
- Reports in recent days said Vice President JD Vance has privately questioned whether the Pentagon is giving President Trump a full picture of battlefield progress and munitions levels, which Pentagon and White House spokespeople rejected as they insisted the president gets a complete, unvarnished view.
- Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has driven up fuel prices as the U.S. enforces a naval blockade and keeps three aircraft carriers in the region, and negotiations remain stalled despite an extended ceasefire.