As Iran war drags on, Hegseth labels Dems obstacle to peace

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered no clear vision to lawmakers Wednesday for when or how the Iran war would conclude. But he did identify a central obstacle in completing the mission: unpatriotic Democrats and their demands for an endgame.

The Pentagon chief, in his first public appearance with lawmakers since the military conflict began, repeatedly called congressional Democrats a leading impediment to American success in Iran.

Hegseth’s decision to label critics as short-sighted and unpatriotic pulls a page from President Donald Trump’s playbook: when threatened, attack. But the Defense secretary’s attempt to equate Democrats with enemy troops elevates his rhetoric to a new level.

“The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats, and some Republicans,” Hegseth said at a House Armed Services Committee budget hearing. “Your hatred for President Trump blinds you to the truth of the success of this mission.”

Even with an uncertain ceasefire and unmet strategic goals, Hegseth argued the U.S. is winning the war. He characterized American strikes in Iran as “an astounding success” and vowed that “unlike foolish previous administrations, this won't go on for years and decades.”

He repeatedly dodged pointed questions from Democratic lawmakers, calling them “clickbait” moments — even when the queries focused on readiness and personnel issues.

His comments were greeted with similar animosity from committee Democrats, who questioned the rationale for the military action and his confrontational stance with committee members.

“You reserve more words and more vitriol to condemn Democrats than you did for [Chinese President] Xi Jinping and for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin combined,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.). “It's pretty telling to me that you decided to use your words and your time for that.”

Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) called Hegseth “the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to incompetence.” Several others accused him of misleading Congress and the public on the state of the war, arguing that two months of fighting has actually strengthened Iran’s strategic positioning in the Middle East.

Democrats also had pointed questions for the Pentagon chief on his firings of top military officers, deadly strikes against suspected drug smuggling vessels and inconsistent aid for Ukraine.

But the former Fox News host gave lawmakers little in the way of details, often flipping back to criticizing Democrats and the policies of the Biden and Obama administrations. He argued the Trump-era Pentagon is rectifying their mistakes.

Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) pressed Hegseth on whether Trump was mentally fit for the job. Hegseth shot back that Trump is the "sharpest, most inciteful commander-in-chief we've had in generations," while haranguing former President Joe Biden and Democrats as well as the secretive hospitalization of his predecessor, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

"Did you ask the same question of Joe Biden for four years?” Hegseth said. “You want to ask that question after you and your fellow Democrats defended Joe Biden, who could barely speak and didn't know what day of the week it was?"

Hegseth had much tamer exchanges with the panel’s Republicans. But a few expressed cautious differences with the administration, raising concerns about the firings of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George and Navy Secretary John Phelan.

Lawmakers found little common ground with each other. But Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), one of the Republicans who criticized George’s firing, reminded the room that the administration’s record $1.5 trillion budget proposal will need support from both parties in the coming months.

“We're going to have to have some Dem votes to do the things that we have to do to fund the Department of Defense,” Scott said. “And I would encourage everybody to keep that in mind, because we're gonna lose some Republican votes on the plus up."

Acting Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst said the war in Iran has cost about $25 billion so far, offering the first official estimate of a U.S. military conflict with little public support.

Hegseth said he hopes Congress will provide funding to cover the war in a supplemental this year. Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns about that new expense and the administration’s massive defense spending total for fiscal 2027.

The Defense secretary will face another barrage of questioning when he appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday morning.