WASHINGTON–Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth showed up to defend the Iran war in a Senate committee on Thursday, but just as he started, a man interrupted from the audience.
“Pete Hegseth, you’re a war criminal,” he yelled. “You should be arrested! What you’re doing is despicable! The American people do not want to go into this war!”
Once the man, wearing a pink “Peace with Iran” shirt, had been ushered out of the room, the Senate Armed Services Committee got back to the business at hand – how and whether to pay for that war.
In a testy hearing with Democrats, Hegseth argued the case for President Donald Trump’s nearly $1.5 trillion budget request to fund the U.S. military.
“The president’s budget request reflects the urgency of the moment, addressing both the deferment of long-standing problems as well as positioning our forces for the current and future fights,” Hegseth said.
In the two months since the war began, Democrats have complained repeatedly that Trump never sought congressional approval for an effort that has now cost the Pentagon an estimated $25 billion.
For the most part, Republicans at Thursday’s hearing agreed with Hegseth and supported most of his rhetoric. But Democrats pressed the man Trump calls his “secretary of war.”
“The cost, to date, in dollars is more than $25 billion, which I believe is well below the actual cost, based on everything I’ve heard,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “I’m going to ask for a more accurate assessment.”
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., described the Iran effort as “an unauthorized war” that is unpopular with the country.
“I don’t know if you fully appreciate how much the American people do not support this war,” Gillibrand said to Hegseth.
“There’s no evidence that we are safer because of this war,” Gillibrand said. “I would just like to know why you have not sought the support of the American people. And three out of five Americans are against this war today.”
But Hegseth blamed Democrats for popular opinion, directing one particular comment to Blumenthal.
“The negative nature in which you characterize the incredibly historic effort in Iran is part of the reason, senator, why the American people view it the way they do,” Hegseth said.
“When I talk to Americans and especially when I talk to the troops,” he said, “they are grateful for a president with courage to take on this threat.”