US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will face tough questions from lawmakers about the Iran war on Wednesday during his first testimony to Congress since the start of the conflict.
Hegseth’s appearance before the House Armed Services Committee — for a hearing on President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget request — comes with the war still unresolved and the economic fallout from it continuing around the globe.
Lawmakers from both parties have previously expressed dissatisfaction with the information provided in classified briefings on the war, setting up a potentially fiery public hearing in which top US military officer General Dan Caine is also set to testify.
“Finally, Secretary Hegseth will come before the House Armed Services Committee this week. It is time to answer for this war of choice,” Representative Maggie Goodlander, a Democratic member of the committee, said in a post on X.
Trump and his administration have yet to publicly provide a plan for winding down the war, which has led Iran to close the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway, sending oil prices skyrocketing.
House Democrats introduced six articles of impeachment against Hegseth earlier this month, accusing him of “high crimes and misdemeanors” including waging war on Iran without congressional approval.
More than a dozen Democrats also sent a letter to Hegseth last week demanding a “formal, immediate investigation” into the deaths of six US troops in Kuwait on March 1, saying the Pentagon chief failed to protect American forces and then “misled the public about the circumstances of the attack.”
In addition to the Iran war, Hegseth may face questions about repeated shakeups of senior Pentagon personnel since Trump returned to office last year. (AFP)
