US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth will be facing questioning from lawmakers Wednesday for the first time since the beginning of the country’s joint war with Israel against Iran, which Democrats have consistently said was waged without congressional approval, and has even been criticised as needless.
The hearing is to be held before the House Armed Services Committee, where they will discuss the administration’s 2027 military budget proposal, which, if passed, would boost military expenditure to an all-time historic high of $1.5 trillion.
Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, are expected to stress the need for more drones, missile defence systems and warships.
So far, Hegseth has avoided public questioning from lawmakers about the war, despite providing televised briefings alongside Caine. Hegseth has mostly taken questions from conservative journalists, while citing Bible passages to castigate mainstream outlets.
Democrats are likely to pivot to the ballooning costs of the Iran war, huge drawdown of critical US munitions and bombing of a school that killed children, while some lawmakers may also question how prepared the military was to shoot down the swarms of Iranian drones, a good chunk of which managed to penetrate Washington’s defences, leading to troops being killed or injured.
House and Senate Democrats have tried and failed repeatedly to pass any of their multiple war power resolutions that would have required President Donald Trump to halt the conflict until Congress authorises further action.
