US War Secretary Pete Hegseth clashed with Democratic lawmakers during a nearly six-hour congressional hearing on Wednesday, his first sworn testimony since the start of the war on Iran, in a session marked by heated exchanges over costs, accountability, and wartime conduct.
Hegseth appeared before the House Armed Services Committee alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and Pentagon chief financial officer Jules Hurst III, as lawmakers pressed officials on the financial and strategic consequences of the ongoing war.
In his opening remarks, Hegseth said the “biggest adversary we face” was the “defeatist words” of Democrats and some Republicans, setting an adversarial tone for the hearing.
Democrats challenged the administration over the scale and justification of military spending, after Hurst confirmed the Iran war has cost the US $25 billion so far, largely driven by munitions and equipment replacement. He added that a full accounting would be released later.
The White House has requested Congress approve a $1.5 trillion defense budget, which officials described as a historic expansion in military spending since World War II.
Hegseth defended the proposal, saying it “reflects the urgency of the moment,” while Gen. Caine called it a “historic down payment for future security.”
Democrats argued the war amounts to an expensive “war of choice” without congressional authorization. Rep. John Garamendi accused the administration of misleading the public, saying the president and Pentagon leadership had not been truthful about the war and warning the US was “stuck in a quagmire” in West Asia.
Hegseth rejected the criticism, calling it “reckless" and saying, “Your hatred for President Trump blinds you.”
The hearing also shifted to questions of operational security after Rep. George Whitesides repeatedly asked whether Hegseth, Gen. Caine, and Hurst have the encrypted messaging app Signal installed on their official Pentagon phones. None of the officials provided a clear answer.
Whitesides referenced FBI Director Kash Patel’s recent warning that Russian intelligence services are targeting US officials and individuals of “high intelligence value” through such platforms. He also pointed to past controversy involving Hegseth, who was previously criticized for sharing sensitive information in a Signal chat that included a journalist.
“I hope that it is not official policy that you can have Signal on your official phones, and I would love to get a response from the department on that,” Whitesides said.
Lawmakers also questioned officials on the war’s economic impact, particularly rising fuel costs.
Rep. Maggie Goodlander pressed Hegseth on the price of gasoline in the US before and after the start of the war, asking whether he knew the average cost per gallon. Hegseth replied that prices “depend on where you live,” adding that in California, it had reached $8.83 at one point.
When asked about current prices nearly two months into the war, Hegseth responded, “Much higher in California.”
Goodlander dismissed the exchange, saying, “I’ve got to say, Mr. Hegseth, you said you’ve got a crack economic team that’s looking at the impacts of this war on the American taxpayer, and you can’t answer this basic question. That should shock the conscience of every American.”
The hearing also revisited reports of a US-linked airstrike on a school in Iran during the early stages of the joint US-Israel aggression. Iranian officials said the Minab strike killed 168 people, including about 110 children.
US media reports earlier this year indicated military investigators believed American forces were likely responsible, though no final determination had been reached.
Democrats criticized the administration’s handling of the incident. Rep. Adam Smith said, “We made a mistake and that happens in war... two months after it happened we refused to say anything about it, giving the world the impression that we just don't care.”
Rep. Ro Khanna also pressed Hegseth on accountability, while the war secretary said the incident “remains under investigation” and declined to assign a cost, calling it an “unfortunate situation".
At several points, tensions escalated sharply, with Hegseth responding to lawmakers in a combative tone and at one moment telling a congressman, “Shame on you.”
Rep. Salud Carbajal of California also pressed Hegseth over a recent Pentagon decision to no longer require service members to receive an annual flu vaccine, questioning the rationale behind the policy shift. Carbajal argued the flu shot mandate had been in place since 1950 to protect troops and accused the administration of weakening military readiness, asking whether similar requirements for other vaccines, such as measles, mumps, and polio, could also be removed.
Hegseth defended the decision, saying it restored individual choice for service members regarding the flu vaccine. “We made very clear in our announcement that it applies to service members having a choice as it pertains to the flu vaccine,” he said.
Salud concluded by telling him, "Mr. Hegseth, I stand by what I said last time you were here, you were incompetent, then you're incompetent now, and you're the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to incompetence with that. Mr. Chairman, I yield back."
Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of California confronted Hegseth during the heated hearing over Trump’s "unhinged" rhetoric and threats toward Iran, raising concerns about military leadership and decision-making.
“This is about who is commanding our troops and if our troops can trust that they are being sent into harm’s way under good strategy,” Jacobs said. “The mental stability of our commander-in-chief is deeply important to our troops.”
Hegseth responded with a brief jab, saying, “It wasn’t important to you during Joe Biden.”
Jacobs immediately pushed back, referencing Democrats’ earlier concerns about Biden’s candidacy. “I’ll remind you that when there were concerns, Democrats came together and he was not our nominee for president,” she said. “So I encourage you to have the same courage that Democrats had.”
She then escalated her criticism of the administration’s handling of the war. “If you think that this is what winning looks like, then maybe we should be questioning your mental stability,” Jacobs said.
“Maybe you are the one responsible for this failure, and the president should think about replacing you.”