Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth will make his first testimony before Congress on the Iran war as efforts to end the conflict stalled, with the United States reportedly sceptical of Tehran’s latest offer to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.
Hegseth will face questioning from lawmakers on Wednesday for the first time since the Trump administration launched the war against Iran, which Democrats have contested as a costly conflict of choice waged without congressional approval.
House Democrats introduced six articles of impeachment against Hegseth earlier this month, accusing him of “high crimes and misdemeanors”.
The hearing before the House Armed Services Committee is being held to discuss the administration’s 2027 military budget proposal, which would boost defence spending to a historic $1.5 trillion.
Hegseth and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, are expected to stress the need for more drones, missile defence systems and warships.
Democrats are likely to pivot to the ballooning costs of the Iran war, the huge drawdown of critical US munitions and the bombing of a school that killed children.
Some lawmakers also may question how prepared the military was to shoot down swarms of Iranian drones, some of which penetrated US defences and killed or wounded American troops.
While a ceasefire is now in place, the US and Israel launched the war on February 28 without congressional oversight.
