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Mass. congressman presses Hegseth on Iran attack advice
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth deflected questions Wednesday as a Massachusetts lawmaker asked him whether he’d advised President Donald Trump to attack Iran.
The pointed exchange between the Pentagon boss and U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a Marine combat veteran, came during a tense appearance before the House Armed Services Committee.
“Did you advise the president that we should attack Iran?” Moulton, D-6th District, asked Hegseth.
“We were first of all in this position in the Cabinet,” the former Fox News personality began. “We never talk about what we would advise the president to do or not.”
“I’ve been in every meeting,” Hegseth continued, adding that Republican Trump “got every perspective possible.”
Moulton, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate in his home state, fired back that he was asking Hegseth for “what your perspective is.”
“Are you afraid to take ownership of this?” Moulton continued. “Do you think it was a good idea or not?”
With no immediate end in sight, the U.S. military campaign in the Persian Gulf has so far cost the taxpayers $25 billion, a senior Pentagon official told the panel on Wednesday.
In his exchange with Moulton, Hegseth seemed to offer little justification for the war, which polls show is increasingly unpopular among voters.
“Do I think it’s a good idea to confront a nuclear bomb in the hands of the ... Imagine what the world would look like right now if Iran had a nuclear weapon.”
As Hegseth talked over him, Moulton observed that “every previous administration, including the first Trump administration, prevented them from having one.”
Moulton concluded that round of questioning, asking Hegseth: “So, listen, how is this war going? Do you think we’re winning militarily?”
On the battlefield, “it’s been an astounding military success,” Hegseth said, reflecting the opinion of most analysts.
“But are we winning the war?” Moulton pressed further, echoing the sentiment of analysts who have said the U.S. has yet to seal a victory in the two-month-old conflict.
“Absolutely,” Hegseth said.