US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth appeared before Senate lawmakers on Tuesday and repeatedly declined to explain the administration’s strategy for ending the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, dismissed calls for a war authorisation vote, and confirmed that he regards Cuba as a national security threat to the United States, in the grilling session of the hearing that ranged across the widest set of security concerns a defence secretary has faced in years.
Under sustained questioning, Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine refused to give any hint of a clear plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, the vital corridor through which one fifth of the global oil and LNG passes through and Iran has closed it.
Sen. Susan Collins noted that “it seems there has been a different plan almost daily with dealing with this problem.” When Hegseth claimed the U.S. “ultimately” controls the strait, Senator Chris Coons asked him repeatedly on what that meant in practice and asked “If we control it, how do we reopen it”.
Hegseth accused Coons of being “highly disingenuous” and ignoring American “incredible battlefield successes.” Under further questioning from Senator Chris Murphy , he acknowledged the U.S. had military options available to force the Strait open but said the administration preferred a “long-term strategy” without providing any specifics.
“We certainly have a lot more military pressure we can bring to bear if the president were to choose to do so,” Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
Murphy pushed back, noting that the administration’s private briefings to the committee had not supported Hegseth’s public confidence. He then turned to General Caine and asked how much missile and drone capability Iran still possessed, pointing to a sharp discrepancy between Trump’s public claim last week that Tehran was down to 18-19 percent of its capacity, and U.S. intelligence assessments reportedly placing that figure at 70 percent.
Senator Chris Murphy said, “How do we or the American public assess the success of the mission when you’ve stated publicly the purpose of the mission is to destroy their missile and drone capability? How do we assess whether we should continue funding this if you can’t state that.”
Caine declined entirely. “All of our battle damage assessment matters are classified, and it would be inappropriate for me to comment in this forum on that. I appreciate the question, but I’m not going to answer it.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said President Donald Trump doesn’t need congressional approval to restart strikes on Iran despite surpassing the 60-day limit allowed under federal law.
Hegseth’s testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee came after the Trump administration surpassed the 60-day mark on May 1 required by the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force. The administration said earlier in May that hostilities had ceased with Iran, so it was not seeking authorization.
Senator Lisa Murkowski has been pressing for a formal congressional vote authorising continued military action, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune has not committed to scheduling one.
Hegseth told Murkowski the administration did not believe it needed congressional authorisation, arguing Trump had sufficient executive authority. “Our view is that, should the president make the decision to recommence, we would have all the authorities necessary to do so.”
Murkowski was unconvinced, cataloguing the current U.S. posture in the region as 15,000 troops forward deployed, more than 20 warships maintaining an active naval blockade, and U.S. Central Command having redirected 61 commercial vessels and disabled tankers.
“In other words, it doesn’t appear that hostilities have ended,”Senator Lisa Murkowski said.
In one of the hearing’s more unexpected exchanges, Mario Díaz-Balart pressed Hegseth on Cuba, asking whether Russian spy ships and warships, including the nuclear submarine Kazan had repeatedly used Cuban ports. “That is true,” Hegseth replied.
When asked whether the Cuban regime poses a national security threat to the United States, Hegseth answered simply: “I do.” He added that the U.S. has been “long concerned” that foreign adversaries, including Russia and potentially China, are using the island as a hub for intelligence gathering, though he declined to confirm specifics on the latter, citing classification concerns.
The comments landed against an unusual backdrop: President Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday morning that “no Republican has ever spoken to me about Cuba,” calling the island “a failed country and only heading in one direction — down.” Some Senate Republicans are now warning the White House against any military action toward Cuba while U.S. forces remain entangled in Iran and the Hormuz blockade.
