By George Caldwell, The Daily Signal | April 29, 2026
At a House Armed Services Committee hearing to explain the Pentagon’s 2027 budget request, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth got his first public congressional grilling since the start of the conflict with Iran.
The secretary came in ready to bring the fight to Congress before the questions even began.
“The biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional Democrats, and some Republicans, two months … into a conflict,” Hegseth said in his opening statement.
He argued the campaign was an “existential fight for the safety of the American people.”
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the committee, pressed Hegseth on this fight, arguing the administration was contradicting itself by declaring the previous “Midnight Hammer” strikes on nuclear facilities a success while also justifying the current operation as an attempt to deprive Iran of nuclear capabilities.
“So, Operation Midnight Hammer accomplished nothing of substance. It left us at the same place we were before,” Smith said.
Hegseth countered, “Their facilities were bombed and obliterated. Their ambitions continued.”
Hegseth added that Iran was developing a “conventional shield” to guard future nuclear weapons production, which President Donald Trump sought to destroy when Iran was at “its weakest moment.”
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., accused Hegseth in the hearing of offering “ever-changing reasons for this war.”
Hegseth snapped at Garamendi, needling him for having described the conflict as a “quagmire” in a CNN interview shortly before the hearing.
“My generation served in a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan—years and years of nebulous missions and utopian nation building that led us to nothing,” the secretary said.
“You should know better, Congressman,” he continued. “Shame on you, calling this a ‘quagmire’ two months in … [and] handing propaganda to our enemies. Shame on you for that statement. Statements like that are reckless to our troops.”
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., also pressed Hegseth on the economic impact of the conflict.
“Do you know how much it will cost Americans in terms of the increased cost of gas and food because of the Iran war?” he asked.
“I would simply ask you what the cost is of an Iranian nuclear bomb,” Hegseth quipped in response. “You’re [asking] gotcha questions about domestic things.”
George Caldwell is a correspondent for the Daily Signal.
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