WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- A Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday descended into a fierce verbal battle as lawmakers from both parties accused war secretary Pete Hegseth of misleading the American public and failing to develop a winning strategy in the ongoing war with Iran.
The hearing, called to review the Trump administration’s request for nearly $70 billion in additional Pentagon funding, exposed deep frustration with a war that has now claimed the lives of at least 17 U.S. service members and cost an estimated $37.5 billion, according to Hegseth but put at more than $100 billion by American institutes.
The most dramatic exchange came when Senator Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat, told Hegseth directly that he bore responsibility for the lack of progress in the war.
“You, sir, are the failure,” Peters declared, clarifying that his criticism was aimed at Pentagon leadership and not the military personnel carrying out missions overseas. “Not the men and women who are on that front line. Not the men and women who hold up their honor with distinction.”
Peters pressed Hegseth on the administration’s shifting objectives, noting that goals had moved from regime change to destroying Iran’s nuclear capabilities to seizing control of the Strait of Hormuz.
“You don’t have a strategy. You don’t have a long-term plan to actually win this war. Win the war!” Peters implored. “The men and women are going to be able to do it, but they need to have leadership. When will you show leadership?”
Hegseth fired back, accusing Democrats of partisan attacks. “Shame on you and others who call this a quagmire and a failure, and then you want to turn around and say you support the war fighter,” Hegseth said.
He accused Peters of having “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and failing to support funding for American troops.
Senator Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, confronted Hegseth with an earlier assessment from the war’s 14th day, where Hegseth had claimed Iran’s military was “destroyed and made combat ineffective”.
“You will not answer whether your statement made on the 14th day of the war—that Iran’s military had been ‘destroyed and made combat ineffective’—was a truthful statement to the American people, as you sit here and ask for tens of billions more for the conflict,” Ossoff said.
Hegseth attempted to pivot, claiming falsely Iran’s “capabilities were almost completely destroyed,” but refused to give a direct yes or no answer.
Even Republican allies grew frustrated. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, a staunch Trump ally, demanded “straight answers” from Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine on the war’s trajectory.
Kennedy asked what would happen if the U.S. stopped its military aggressions and brought service members home. When Caine dismissed the question as hypothetical, Kennedy shot back: “It’s not hypothetical. We’ve got a blockade to stop them”.
“Gosh, we need straight answers,” Kennedy said, repeating it for emphasis.
Senator Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, accused Hegseth of “gross negligence” for failing to fully inform President Trump that the Strait of Hormuz could be effectively closed.
When Hegseth attempted to blame the Biden administration, Reed cut him off: “Listen, we’re talking about the war you started. Not a situation in which oil was flowing freely. There was no conflict. We weren’t losing personnel as a result of Iranian actions. So your fallback to the Biden administration is just a very, very obvious excuse.”
Reed noted that three U.S. servicemembers were killed over the weekend—a stark reminder of the war’s human cost.
Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the committee, warned that the U.S. could be sliding into “another forever war”. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said Americans were upset “because the words you have used in the past don’t add up”.
“The American people don’t know who to believe or what to believe,” Gillibrand said. “They just know they can’t afford their healthcare. They can’t afford their food. They can’t afford housing.”
The hearing also revealed the war’s collateral damage on American farmers. The administration requested $11.1 billion for the Agriculture Department—$10 billion of which is for “temporary economic assistance” for row crops and specialty crops planted in the 2026 growing season.
Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, called the request “ironic” because the farm aid was necessitated precisely by the war with Iran. Fertilizer prices have spiked 23.5 percent since February due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz—through which one-third of global fertilizer trade normally passes.
“The solution is not to pump more money into the war in Iran so that we can pump more money into farmers, and then later we’ll have to pump more money into Iran and other industries that are collapsing because of this war,” Massie said. “The solution is to stop the war.”