'YOU, SIR, ARE THE FAILURE': Hegseth Faces Fire Over $37.5B Iran War Cost

[00:00:00]Thank you.

[00:00:00]>> Please proceed.

[00:00:02]>> 1.5 trillion is what the president seeks and what we need to defend the country.

[00:00:08]The members of this committee understand better than most that long-term strategic dominance cannot be funded through one-off supplementals.

[00:00:19]>> This supplemental request serves two purposes. sustain our military readiness to meet this year's new demands and accelerate critical capabilities to replace and augment those we have used in contingencies. But make no mistake, this is not a one forone replacement. We are upgrading and we are modernizing across the force.

[00:00:41]On the readiness front, we requested $21 billion. This will fund military pay, replace much of equipment utilized during recent operations, sustain forward deployed forces, and grow personnel and strength while stabilizing missionritical fueled shortfalls and supporting the National Guard. On the capabilities side, we requested 46 billion. These funds will expand production lines and accelerate delivery of high demand munitions. We're talking about solid rocket motors, JDAMs, hypersonics, and counter drone capabilities.

[00:01:18]>> I understand and I'm told that some military services face nearer solveny challenges.

[00:01:27]What will be the impact on our troops if additional funding is not provided? Are there military exercises, for example, that are at risk of cancellation?

[00:01:44]What message would we be sending to the world? Secretary Hegset, either you or Senator or General Kaine.

[00:01:52]>> Uh, Chairwoman, I very much appreciate that question and it's uh because it it's connected to the real world realities of this budget cycle. Uh there is training uh training right now and training in the future that would have to be curtailed if we do not get our budget needs met and met uh urgently.

[00:02:11]I I would just note uh I was sort of updated 95% of that one big beautiful bill funding will be allocated by the end of September in in accordance with congressional intent. So these are things we are we we we said we would spend and we told you we would spend them on and we plan to spend them on those things by the end of September. So this is a new request based on new realities of of of a world we face stepping up to meet that moment. Uh >> giving this to the secretary, but that that's news to me. Um that that 75 billion will be out the door appropriate, sorry, allocated and spent by September. And I was simply questioning how we have um ships running out of fuel in the open seas and planes being grounded. And >> I I didn't say ships were running out of fuel in open seas or planes were grounded. I'm saying we don't have to make trade-offs.

[00:02:59]>> Maintenance accounts are >> everything our troops need on the battlefield, they're they're getting in spades and beyond. Uh it's ultimately looking into the future. Can we invest above and beyond that the types of munitions fast enough as we upgrade and modernize our our force? That's what's at issue here in this 1.5 trillion this supplemental and any other additional funding that comes.

[00:03:18]>> Two quite different things. A $ 1.5 trillion base budget request and a now 76 billion dollar supplemental. here today. I want to uh begin by first echoing my colleagues uh comments that we've heard throughout the hearing here.

[00:03:33]>> Hexath um you're requesting so why are there missiles left to hit Jordan and and result in the loss of life of our brave men and women?

[00:03:44]>> As we stated from the beginning, the Iranian defense industrial base is effectively gone. But they do have underground facil facilities because they're the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and they've spent 47 years trying to hide their missiles under mountains just like their just like their nuclear capabilities because they would like to get a nuclear weapon to us of the war to believe because it's either over or it's not over. It's within two weeks or it's not two weeks.

[00:04:09]We have no missiles or we have missiles.

[00:04:10]And that constrnation is why so many New Yorkers are perplexed, stressed out, and find this war to be incredibly unpopular because they don't understand the choices that the president's making.

[00:04:22]They don't agree with those choices.

[00:04:24]Secretary Rollins >> much. And uh thank all of you all for your service to our country. Mr. Ex Secretary, >> I think your characterization of this incredible effort as a failure is reckless. Uh, and I think it's irresponsible and I think it smears the sacrifice of the troops that are out there making on behalf of the American people to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. 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. Either you do or you don't.

[00:04:52]I can get you a ticket out to Sentcom and talk to what those Americans are doing, how committed they are to this effort and how they want to ensure that Iran never threatens their families with a nuclear weapon. It's a it is that that's the kind of intensity that our war fighters have about making sure that Iran isn't capable of doing >> he did you if you listen to my comments you told you would have heard me say how amazing our war fighters are.

[00:05:12]>> I heard failure the word heard I I heard exactly I will tell you how I use the word failure because I use the word failure to their leaders. You sir are the failure not the men and women who are on that front line. Not the the men and women who hold up their honor with distinction, but if there's a lack of a winning strategy, they're in harm's way. Their leaders have failed them. And that's what's happening. We have political leadership. You You don't have a strategy. You don't have a long-term plan to actually win this war. Win the war. The men and women are going to be able to do it, but they need to have leadership. When will you show leadership? And will you show >> why don't you show some leadership and stand up to your fellow Democrats who won't fund the troops who stand and play partisan politics while you don't give us the money. You want to stand up here and talk about the troops. You won't show any political courage to actually fund our department because you have Trump derangement syndrome and can't actually commit to anything meaningful.

[00:06:05]So I put this on you, Senator.

[00:06:06]>> Sergeant Hegov, you have trillions. You have over a trillion dollars. You're asking for $1.5 trillion dollars. It's not a question of money. It's a question of leadership and understanding what it takes to actually win >> political cowardice of Democrats who won't fund the troops.

[00:06:24]>> Senator's time has expired.

[00:06:28]This will conclude our hearing.

[00:06:32]>> As you know, we live in a dangerous world that requires bold and swift action. Hence, this supplemental request for fiscal year 2026.

[00:06:43]This request is an urgent necessary injection of resources to address the immediate needs of our department. The supplemental funding request is not a substitute >> against people.

[00:07:06]The witness will suspend until order is restored in the committee room. I know that individuals feel very passionately, but we must have order in the hearing room so that we can proceed. We're now going to move forward to with our hearing and Secretary Higgs, please proceed.

[00:07:31]>> Thank you. The supplemental funding request is not a substitute for the president's full $1.5 trillion base budget request.

[00:07:40]$1.5 trillion.

[00:07:43]Stop bombing OUR CHILDREN IN IRAN AND PALESTINE. This is illegal.

[00:07:48]>> Mr. Secretary, please suspend until order is restored in the hearing room. We will begin the timing clock since you've been interrupted twice.

[00:08:07]Thank you.

[00:08:08]>> Please proceed.

[00:08:09]>> 1.5 trillion is what the president seeks and what we need to defend the country.

[00:08:15]The members of this committee understand better than most that long-term strategic dominance cannot be funded through one-off supplements.

[00:08:32]We will have order in the hearing room.

[00:08:41]>> Mr. Secretary, please proceed.

[00:08:44]>> Collectively, the budget proposals submitted under President Trump follow a simple logic.

[00:08:57]I would ask that the Capitol police, whose professionalism might admire, remove those who are seeking to disrupt the hearing.

[00:09:11]Please proceed.

[00:09:12]>> President Trump's following a simple logic. The military requires a generational investment to deliver on peace through strength. We know the best way to create peace is to prepare for war, to deter it. And that's exactly what the Department of War is doing.

[00:09:28]Building a force so capable that it would be absurd for anyone to challenge it. As the direct result of neglected priorities and and gross negligence that ignored threats left over from the previous administration, President Trump inherited a set of global and domestic crises.

[00:09:46]>> We got a blockade to stop them.

[00:09:48]>> We do, sir. that's putting economic pressure on. I'm not asking you for I'm not trying to get you in trouble. I know your advice to the president is uh is is private, but this is serious as four heart attacks and a stroke.

[00:10:06]Now, what happens if we come home and end the blockade to the world?

[00:10:15]Sir, Iran uh has the potential to continue to be a threat and we're we will need to prepare military strike. I >> sir, that's a hypothetical question and I don't know the answer to that.

[00:10:28]>> Oh, it's not hypothetical. You come we come home. It's not going to be hypothetical. You know that, General.

[00:10:35]And I do too and and I I appreciate your discretion, but we're down to it. We need some hard answers and some straight talk.

[00:10:46]What'll happen, Pete?

[00:10:50]>> Senator, I would I would agree with the chairman, but the likely outcome is they would try to impose their will on the on the waterways in ways that uh that the world would not like.

[00:10:58]>> Call it a toll, call it a fee, call it an exchange, call it control. They would do something that they would try to hold that issue. Yes, sir. Would they would they try to uh to to redevel uh commence development again of a nuclear warhead?

[00:11:14]Um part of the reason President Trump had to have the courage to do what he did after Midnight Hammer is that they didn't give up their ambitions even though their nuclear sites had been obliterated. So this is a regime hellbent on nuclear ambitions and President Trump answers.

[00:11:28]>> We need straight answers.

[00:11:32]Do we have the ability to destroy whatever is underneath pickaxe mountain?

[00:11:42]A lot of Senator, a lot of our capabilities are classified, but if anybody in the world can reach anything on this on God's given God's green earth, it's the United States military, the most powerful military in the world.

[00:11:51]It's all about options and trade-offs.

[00:11:52]>> All right. You information about a couple others and you responded.

[00:11:55]Appreciate it. We'll follow up.

[00:11:57]>> Secretary, >> we didn't start. Let me just ask you this. Since you said that what the president meant by his statement on March 24th, I think that we had sort of defeated Iran militarily, but that is not the entire objective of this war. I don't think there was ever a question about whether the United States with its superior military could destroy a lot of Iranian assets, military assets or other assets. That was never a question. But when most people think of winning the war, they think that that means the war is going to come to an end because we've won. And the president said back in March that we'd won. So I guess my question to you is how are we going to define winning? I hear back in March you said about the Iranians and I quote whether they will have a ceremony in Tehran Square and surrender that's up to them. So my question Mr. Secretary reopening the straight of Hormuz is necessary in order for us to win right that's just a simple yes or no question.

[00:13:09]You asked me what the overarching objective is and I would say ensuring Iran never has a nuclear weapon. That's been clear from the president from day one. That's why midnight hammer was undertaken to obliterate their nuclear sites. That's why we're watching their nuclear sites. That's why that was a part of negotiations, ensuring that the next generation of Americans don't have to deal with a Iran that wields a nuclear war.

[00:13:29]>> Since that's what you're leading with, Mr. Secretary, let let me just say this.

[00:13:33]You said after Midnight Hammer, and I'm quoting, "Our bombing campaign obliterated Iran's ability to create nuclear weapons." Unquote. Clearly that is not the case based on your testimony today. It's also a fact that the DNI Tulsi Gabbard testified in front of the intelligence committee that it was our assessment that Iran did not intend to restart its nuclear program. The president of the United States just about a week ago said Iran has committed not to develop a nuclear weapon which of course is a commitment they've made for many years. We need to enforce that.

[00:14:08]That's what we are doing under the JCPOA. Thank you, Madam Chairman.

[00:14:12]Ukraine.

[00:14:13]This body has passed five.

[00:14:15]>> How is it possible if their capabilities were quote functionally destroyed three months earlier as she claimed for them to be doing this now?

[00:14:24]>> Well, Senator, Iran is at the weakest point militarily it has ever been in uh in the past decade, certainly maybe in 47 years as they've gathered effectively a terror army. And that terror army was built to try to create conventional capabilities to defend against a pursuit of nuclear weapons which meant thousands of ballistics missiles many of which we have destroyed others of which they have put inside facilities and hidden in underground facilities. That's what terror regimes would do. So I acknowledge they still have capabilities no doubt uh but the amount of the amount of damage that we've done to them over the course of uh of the of these series of operations has put them in the worst place they've ever Okay. Well, let me move. How did Iran shrink ship traffic in the straight to trick to a trickle again last week?

[00:15:07]>> We pushed almost, I believe, between 400 and 500 million barers of oil under the nose of Iran over the course of Project Freedom, which went underground, which I uh acknowledged after we did so covertly because it was more effective to do so quietly than to do so publicly. So, we've been uh in control of moving traffic through there for quite some time. Will they retain the ability to recklessly shoot at commercial shipping?

[00:15:28]And that's what happened. and we had a ceasefire and then they shot at commercial shipping recklessly.

[00:15:33]>> You also said at that same uh press conference and I'm going to quote you >> um you urged Iran to quote let innocent ships pass freely these international waters belong to all nations not to Iran to tax toll or control. Last week President Trump said the US would charge a 20% toll to each ship to pass through the state. So based on your opposition to tolls, did you talk to the the president out of that idea or did someone else?

[00:16:01]>> Um, Iran's not charging tolls and they're shooting at ships right now.

[00:16:06]>> But Trump said that he wanted to charge a 20% toll.

[00:16:10]>> We we have a blockade right now of all Iranian ships in Iranian ports and uh it's it's effective.

[00:16:15]>> My time is out.

[00:16:17]Do you have a new estimate about what the war has cost us so far in this the fifth month of the first year of this war in Iran? Uh >> Senator, the estimate we have as of today is 37.5 billion >> and is the current activity which we've been told about the exchange of fire back and forth uh in Iran and indication that number is going to go up in the months ahead >> of some of that number captures additional onm mill pay and other that would be anticipated through the fiscal year. So some of that anticipates what cost would be going out in the future as well.

[00:16:49]>> So the new number you've given me is what?

[00:16:52]>> 37.5 billion.

[00:16:54]>> And that represents the cost of the war through what period of time >> through now for certain aspects of it uh but also mil pay on and m other anticipated costs through September 30th. Senator >> General Kaine let me ask you a question.

[00:17:09]undertaking a historic effort like this of this scope and scale. Of course, the straight of Hormuz was front and center in every single aspect of that. Hence why one of our key objectives to begin with was to sink the entirety of of uh Iran's navy, which its conventional navy was sunk. Now, you can't get rid of every single fast boat and every single machine gun and a fast boat or every single uh coastal cruise missile. So we acknowledge that if the state decided to become a terror state shooting at commercial shipping that would be an ongoing and contested part of the battle uh to include their willingness to mine international water. So one side weaponized the straight and we've been fighting aware that the trade of could be closed and obviously sinking their ships has not affected their ability to effectively close the straits. Did did you >> We had US boats that surrendered to Iranian ships under the Biden administration. Uh so their navy was effective in export.

[00:18:00]>> We're talking about a 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 uh your fall back to the Biden administration is just a very very u obvious uh excuse for what I think is probably as you describe so often gross negligence. You did not fully inform the president that you would be in a situation where the traitor moves could be effectively closed, oil prices could surge and effectively the Iranians could maintain their ability to strike back as they are right now. They just killed some of my servicemen last weekend. Um >> this this battlefield and all the dynamics of it of which the chairman and I are responsible for ensuring the president understands every branch and sequel of what could happen and we did.

[00:18:56]So the fact that those contingencies all were part of the possibility and we understood that is all the more reason why President Trump deserves the kind of praise he should get for undertaking this effort having the courage to ensure that crazy Islamists can't have a nuclear weapon to hold us at issue and he's been willing to stay committed to that regardless of the challenges.

[00:19:15]>> Excuse me. So he should be praised. He should be praised for sing war without authority creating a situation in which the world economy is suffering tremendously. We have to have extra money for our farmers and we have no outcome uh at least no real realistic outcome in sight yet. Let me switch to General Kane. General Kane, >> I want to thank you for including fire.

[00:19:39]>> The next step would be escalation by ground combat. Do you anticipate that escal escalation?

[00:19:45]>> Sir, I I think it'd be unhelpful for me to opine on hypotheticals. What I can tell you is we always develop an unbelievable amount of options and the associated risks and then my main job is to always ensure that leaders understand those options and the risks. Now, if you employ ground troops to seize objectives, which princ I would assume would be the first stage, are you prepared for an extended guerrilla war, which would likely happen in that area?

[00:20:13]>> Sir, with all due respect, I think it'd be unhelpful for me to opine on hypothetical situations on whatever decisions the president may or may not take in the future. Have you advised the president that uh a ground combat would be very expensive in the lives of our soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and also could probably lead to an extended uh unconventional war in that area? I don't see the Iranians sort of throwing their hands up saying, you know, welcome to Iran.

[00:20:47]Uh, Senator, I always advise the president on a range of military options and all of the risks that are contained within that, but I have to keep my military advice to the president private. Sir, >> um, are Russia and China uh, helping Iran? And if so, how?

[00:21:09]>> Well, Senator, as the chairman alluded to, there's definitely adversary alignment uh, attempts to do so. Uh and there are many ways that we deter that.

[00:21:19]Some of which are and and the depth and extent of it ought to remain classified and it should but there are ways in which both of those countries are at limiting at different levels uh enabling some of the things Iran is doing. Yes.

[00:21:34]>> General Kane, would you like to add?

[00:21:37]Sir, I'd rather um not opine on the specifics because that would divulge what we know and I never want the adversary to know what I know. I just want to know it.

[00:21:50]>> And hopefully we'll get a chance to do that in this gift.

[00:21:53]>> Yes, sir. Happy to happy to do that in this gift, sir. this. So, I want to thank President