(NewsNation) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday deferred to President Donald Trump’s decision-making powers when questioned about U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict.
Hegseth, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, refused to discuss whether he had been tasked with providing options for a strike in the Middle East.
“If I had or had not, I wouldn’t disclose that in this forum, senator,” Hegseth said in response to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.
Minutes before, Trump gave a vague response to reporters outside the White House when asked about potential U.S. strikes on Iran.
“I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump said. “I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble.”
The Senate hearing was created to review the Pentagon’s proposed $961.6 billion budget. While lawmakers touched on the agency’s expenditures, questioning frequently turned toward the Middle East and other national security issues.
Ranking member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., asked Hegseth to “be crystal clear about the administration’s posture toward Iran” during his opening statements.
In addition to Hegseth, witnesses included Gen. Daniel Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, special ***istant to the secretary of defense.
Hegseth questioned on staffing, Signal chats, LA protests
Lawmakers questioned turnover at the Pentagon since Hegseth took office, including the firing of top U.S. Gen. C.Q. Brown.
“This is a legitimate problem for our national defense. Much of the Pentagon seems to have been paralyzed by infighting and stripped of expert staff at a time when we need stability and professionalism,” Reed said.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., criticized Hegseth’s handling of the Signal scandal earlier this year, in which he and other top Trump defense officials sent information about strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen via an encrypted messaging app.
She also railed on Hegseth for the deployment of California National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to immigration protests.
“I don’t know whether you are too inexperienced or too incompetent, but I wonder when you will actually focus on our nation’s warfighting mission,” Duckworth said. “We know that California is just a deliberate, systematic, political and dangerous campaign led by you.”
When asked by lawmakers whether he would remove troops from LA’s streets following court rulings, Hegseth indicated he would respect a Supreme Court decision but not a district court’s.
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