Watch: Sen. Reed presses Hegseth about Pentagon firings, Iran war

Added: 2026-05-01

[00:00:00]Uh, thank Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Uh, Mr. Secretary, you recently fired the Army Chief of Staff, General Randy George, who's one of the most distinguished and decorated officers of this generation.

[00:00:14]General uh George's nomination came before us. We reviewed it thoroughly and we concurred.

[00:00:21]Uh, why did you fire General George?

[00:00:26]Well, as I did then and I'll say now, we thank General George for his service.

[00:00:31]Uh, and out of respect to him and other officers, we never talk about the nature of of uh why certain officers are asked to step down. Uh, but we all serve at the pleasure of the president. And ultimately, my view in in coming into this department, as I stated in my confirmation hearing, was to change the culture of the department.

[00:00:50]And it's ultimately challenging to change the department the culture of a department with the same people who were a part of or in that department. So, I have made many changes uh with general officers. We will continue to make changes as necessary with general officers, and they will be in keeping with the trajectory of where we would like to take the department, but it doesn't take away from the service of those. And I think you'll you'll note that every officer that's been um asked to leave has been treated with respect.

[00:01:18]Interesting.

[00:01:20]Uh, of the two dozen officers that you have fired for reasons unrelated to performance, since you have not indicated any cause, 60% are black or females. Uh, now, did the president direct you to single out female and black officers to be dismissed?

[00:01:41]Um Senator, of course not. And as we've emphasized at this department from the beginning, the only metric is merit. Uh, this this Members on this committee and the previous leadership of this department were focused on hype you know, social engineering, race and gender in ways that we think were unhealthy for the department. Focusing on those things, making decisions based on those things.

[00:02:04]>> Okay. In President Trump's War Department, we make decisions based on only one thing, merit. And that's how we've made decisions going forward.

[00:02:11]That's how we've made them and that's how we'll make them going forward.

[00:02:13]>> me go back to General George.

[00:02:15]Uh, what did he fail in terms of his lack of merit to continue serving?

[00:02:22]As I as I said, I don't talk about the nature of dismissal >> No, you you used it. You used it again.

[00:02:27]You used it again.

[00:02:28]>> ultimately, we want to take the department in a particular direction, certain services in a particular direction, and we want leadership that's running as fast in that direction as possible. And in some cases, we make changes accordingly, uh but do so out of respect to those officers.

[00:02:41]>> Well, I think that direction from your behavior is uh an intense interest in Christianity, uh in nationalism, and in uh not uh recognizing the talents of women and uh non-white gentlemen. And that's the wrong direction. I I don't know what you're insinuating, Senator, but I'm not ashamed of my faith in Jesus Christ.

[00:03:08]>> Well, I'm you shouldn't be ashamed.

[00:03:10]>> you want to shame me for it, go ahead.

[00:03:11]I'm not shaming you, but are you uh critical of other faiths?

[00:03:18]I am a believer. I'm quite open in that, and our department allows for a multitude of faiths. So, I don't I don't know what you're suggesting. I've heard the likes of things that people like you suggest >> Uh, I didn't >> to smear my character, and I won't give in to it.

[00:03:30]>> No.

[00:03:33]I'm sorry, Mr. Secretary, but uh broadcasting before the national uh religious broadcasters stressing the need for more Christianity in the military forces doesn't seem like a neutral position in which you tolerate and accept all religions. Let me move on. Uh, the strategic aspects of this operation in Iran.

[00:03:58]Uh, the president declared we're going to destroy their missiles and raise their missile industry to the ground.

[00:04:06]And after more than 13,000 strikes, unclassified assessments conclude that Iran retains more than 40% of its drone arsenal and 60% of its ballistic missile launchers compared with pre-war pre-war levels. That's one of his objectives.

[00:04:23]The uh second objective was uh regime change. To the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand, and we will finish take over your government. Well, when we finish, we'll take over the government.

[00:04:39]That has not succeeded. And then uh one of his other things is the onset of war, the president said, "We will ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon."

[00:04:49]Military operations against Iran have not achieved that goal yet.

[00:04:54]And it also seems to indicate that his pronouncements about Operation Midnight Hammer obliterating the nuclear uh policy and structure of the Iranians was false.

[00:05:07]So, you have not achieved any of the objectives yet that has the president mentioned.

[00:05:14]Well, in this setting, I won't talk about the nature of metrics, which are which are classified, as you know, Senator, but I can say that looking at the objectives we set out to achieve from the beginning, some of which you laid out, uh our military our military objectives have been stunningly effective. Um look, take for example their defense industrial base. They're completely incapable at scale at any level of reconstituting the capabilities you referred to, which is a devastating result for any country, uh especially one whose ambitions are as wide as Iran's. Uh, so we've put the president in a very strong position to ensure uh Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. That's that's the takeaway that's been underneath every single aspect of this.

[00:05:55]For 47 years, Iran's trying to blackmail its way to a nuclear weapon. They were closer than ever before because of bad deals under previous administration. President Trump was willing to do something about it and not allow their conventional missile shield. That's the North Korea strategy.

[00:06:09]That's to be clear what Iran was pursuing.

[00:06:12]Hiding their nuclear ambitions, revealing them over time, and then building a conventional shield of missiles so powerful that no country would challenge them for fear of what would happen if they unleashed that arsenal. Weakened after the 12-day war in Midnight Hammer, which did obliterate their their their sites, President Trump saw an opportunity because their ambitions continued to ensure that umbrella of nuclear blackmail did not allow them to get to a nuclear weapon.

[00:06:39]And the world is safer because of his bold and historic choice.

[00:06:45]Mr. Secretary, I think that's rhetorical but not factual. Thank you.