Spats, accusations, chaos Democrats dismantle Hegseth - how the congressional hearing escalated

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is demanding 1.5 trillion dollars for the US military. He will have to answer questions about this in Congress: At the corresponding session, the sparks flew. The six-hour hearing in 6 points.

"NewNation" reports soberly on yesterday's hearing of the Secretary of Defense in the US Congress. "[Pete] Hegseth defends Pentagon request for $1.5 trillion budget," the right-wing outlet writes, quoting the 45-year-old: "We're building a military the American people can be proud of."

Other publications have a very different view of the meeting. "'It's the incompetence!' Hegseth gets grilled by Democrats in Armed Services hearing," headlines the left-leaning MS Now."Hegseth behaves like a child in front of Congress," says "The Bulwark".

The British media summarize the whole thing as follows: "Hegseth clashes with MPs in nearly six-hour hearing over Iran war," summarizes the BBC. "Hegseth denies Iran war is a 'quagmire' while cost to US estimated at $25bn," reads the Guardian headline.

And the Independent analyzes: "Pete Hegseth lost his temper in front of Congress. It was a dramatic gaffe". Is the truth in the middle, or is one of the two sides right? Judge for yourself based on these excerpts:

"How is this war going? Do you think we're winning?" asks Seth Moulton Hegseth in the hearing. "On the battlefield, it's been an amazing success," he replies.

"But are we winning the war?" asks the Democrat. "Absolutely," is the answer.

Veteran Moulton was just waiting for this: "Do you call it winning if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz?" Hegseth begins to talk about the US blockade of the Persian Gulf.

"Okay, they blockaded us, and we're blockading their blockade?" the Massachusetts Democrat adds. "It's as if President Madison [in 1814] said: well, the British just burned Washington to the ground, but don't worry: we're going to burn it to the ground too."

Adam Smith wants to know: How successful was Operation Midnight Hammer, the US attack on Iran in June 2025, actually? "Their nuclear facilities were wiped out," says Hegseth. "They're buried underground and we're watching them 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Democrat Smith doesn't understand this: didn't the minister say 60 days ago that the current war was based on Tehran posing an "imminent nuclear threat"? "They haven't given up their nuclear ambitions," replies the interviewee.

"So Operation Midnight Hammer has achieved nothing in substance?" asks Smith. Hegseth repeats what he said earlier. "It's the North Korea strategy," he adds. "Use conventional missiles so that nobody challenges you, to slow down the construction of the weapon."

He means: Iran is arming itself conventionally so that it can continue its nuclear weapons research in peace. Smith comments laconically: "And they still haven't given up their nuclear ambitions."

The Trump administration has lifted previously imposed sanctions on the sale of oil and gas already loaded onto Iranian and Russian ships. How much has Tehran gained as a result, asks Seth Moulton. Hegseth replies that Iran is now financially ruined.

"They have earned around 14 billion dollars," the Democrat counters. The Republican counters that Iran no longer has a navy with which to challenge the blockade.

"What kind of navy can they buy with 14 billion dollars?" asks veteran Moulton. "How many Chinese missiles can they buy? Does that sound like profits?" Hegseth: "We'll make sure they don't buy Chinese missiles."

Moulton's party colleague Salud Carbajal emphasizes that Russia also benefits from the partial lifting of sanctions. He wants to know: Isn't this fueling the illegal war in Ukraine? "What we have seen is the inability of [Vladimir] Putin and Russia to make effective progress on the battlefield," says Hegseth.

5 points about the militaryWhy Europe will soon need Ukraine more than the other way around

Moscow was also unable to defend Venezuela. "Russia's military capabilities are not comparable." He continues, "We have the best energy team on the planet." The Democrat chokes him off: "It's a simple yes-or-no question." Then Carbajal changes the subject.

Adam Smith criticizes Hegseth for telling Donald Trump that Ukraine has "no cards to play". The memorable meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House at the end of February 2025 comes to mind: "They should conclude a deal as quickly as possible. That was obviously wrong. What did you miss?"

He says: Ukraine was not as beaten down as the White House thought.

"What we didn't miss," the minister shoots back, "is that [Trump's predecessor] Joe Biden gave hundreds of billions of dollars worth of our weapons to Ukraine without accountability. With a result that would never have happened if President Trump had been president."

"You're not going to answer the question," Smith resigned.

"You guys don't talk about it: at the end of the day, President Trump believes there should be a peace deal," Hegseth poisons.

Smith asks: But what about the strategic miscalculation? "I think the Ukrainians have shown great courage, and I guess the Europeans are now paying for the weapons we are giving up," Hegseth wriggles out.

The "fact" mentioned by Hegseth that the USA has given Kiev weapons worth "hundreds of billions of dollars" is false, by the way. Sometimes Washington has sent old material that would otherwise have had to be disposed of. Thanks to the weapons aid, the Pentagon was actually able to modernize its arsenal, which is to be reactivated in the event of an emergency.

Hegseth is questioned about Timothy Parlatone - who has not only been a buddy of his "for a long time": he was once his lawyer and also worked for Trump's team.

In March 2025, the Secretary installed him in the Navy Reserve and also hired him as a senior advisor who attends key meetings - without being vetted or confirmed by Congress. But Hegseth doesn't like to talk about this, as the bitchy exchange with Democrat Jason Crow shows.

He has to have every answer pulled out of his nose, praises Parlatone as a "great patriot" and is "proud" to have him as an advisor. "I don't know what you're getting at," he lets Crowo have it: "You're playing a get caught game like you and everyone else plays on TV."

Hegseth cannot answer whether Parlatone represents foreign powers in his law firm.

Hegseth has no intention of putting up with anything in the hearing and always goes on the counterattack. Even when Maggie Goodlander quotes his own words, he talks about being "biased". The question was simply whether the military should not follow unlawful orders.

The behavior continues when the 39-year-old asks him about petrol prices: Hegseth does not know what the prices were before and after the start of the Iran war and can only say that petrol is much more expensive in Democrat-ruled California.

Next question: Why did Hegseth dismiss some military personnel? "There were a lot of gender and demographic changes that took place for reasons other than focusing on the battlefield," he says.

Marilyn Strickland retorts that she didn't even ask about gendering. Hegseth grumbles: "That's included in every statement."

Strickland's pertei-colleague Chrissy Houlahan asks why the highly respected General Randy George was fired. Hegseth does not answer directly. Only, "It's very hard to change the culture of a ministry that has been destroyed by wrong perspectives." And, "We need new leadership."

Hegseth and Houlahan lose themselves in a battle of words in which the Republican blames the Democrats for the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, which his party colleagues Richard Nixon and George W. Bush started.

Hegseth clashes with Sara Jacobs because she asks him whether Trump is still mentally fit. "Did you ask Joe Biden the same question?", he pampers the 37-year-old. "Joe Biden is not president," counters the MP from California. "I'm not going to stoop to the level of denigration you're throwing at the commander-in-chief [Trump]," Hegseth says, starting again with Biden.

Even the Republican chairman of the committee has to call Hegseth to order:

So what's the bottom line? For some, the Secretary of Defense has succeeded. For others, his time in the post is running out. Time will tell whether this proves to be the case.