‘An unauthorized war’: Democrat grills Hegseth on US war with Iran
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat of New York, is up now. She begins by telling Hegseth: “I don’t know if you fully appreciate how much the American people do not support this war. It is an unauthorized war.”
She said New Yorkers are upset by the soaring cost of the war, and concerned about the death toll in Iran, particularly headlines confirming that a US missile struck a primary school in Minab, and the use of AI in warfare.
“I would just like to know why you have not sought the support of the American people?” she asked Hegseth in a testy exchange.
Hegseth retorted that the tone of the conversation was much different during the private session with the cameras off, a way of suggesting that Democrats are performing for the cameras.
“The question I would ask to you and to others is, what is the cost of a nuclear armed Iran?” Hegseth responded, insisting in the face of polling that shows the opposit that the administration does “have the support of the American people”.
“What is your response to targeting that has resulted in the destruction of schools, hospitals, civilian places? Why did you cut by 90% the division that’s supposed to help you not target civilians?” she asked.
Hegseth argued that the US’s commitment to preventing civilian deaths was “ironclad” commitment” and stronger than other countries.
Key events
In an exchange with Democratic senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, who has led several war powers resolutions attempting to reign in the president’s authority on use of military force, Hegseth argued that the 60-day limit for the Iran war had been “paused” during the ceasefire.
“We are in a ceasefire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a ceasefire,” he said.
Under the War Powers Act of 1973, the president has 60 calendar days after deploying troops into hostilities to terminate military operations not authorized by Congress. The 60-day limit will be reached on Friday, but Hegseth disagreed and explained the pause during the ceasefire.
“I do not believe the statute would support that,” Kaine replied.
Democratic senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii asked Hegseth about his past comments in which he said “women shouldn’t serve in combat units.”
Noting that he recently ordered a review of women in combat roles, she asked if he was “laying the groundwork” to potentially reverse the policy.
“We are laser-focused on standards — the highest male standard for every combat arms position should be the standard,” he said. Hirono said he didn’t answer the question and asked if his review would be made public.
“We’re doing that study for that very reason, to ensure that real science is applied to this question and not social engineering like the previous administration,” Hegseth retorted.
The sharpness of the questions Hegseth is facing has largely fallen along partisan lines – Democrats are grilling him, while Republicans are mostly presenting opportunities for the secretary to champion the war as an unmitigated success.
In between praising Hegseth’s reverence for fallen soldiers, Republican senator Joni Ernst noted that she had been “disappointed” to see General Randy George’s retirement “hastened” earlier this month.
She “pulled the Army out of its worst recruiting crisis since the Vietnam era” and trimmed “nonessential” Army positions.
In April, the Pentagon said George would be “retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately. The Department of War is grateful for General George’s decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement.”
He was one of many long-serving officials to be removed from the US military under the Trump administration.
“He had 38 years of honorable service. He achieved the greatest Army recruitment and modernization effort in a generation,” Ernst said. “So I want to thank him for his service.”
In another testy exchange, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat of Connecticut, asked Hegseth if he agrees with the president’s assessment that Iran has been “military defeated”.
Blumenthal, like other Democrats, appeared to be trying to find disagreement between Trump and his defense secretary. But Hegseth didn’t bite, and instead lashed out Blumenthal’s characterization of the war.
“The negative nature in which you characterized the incredible and historic effort in Iran is part of the reason, senator, why the American people view it the way they do. It’s why I looked at the press corps at the Pentagon and called them pharisees in the press. It’s because they look for every problem that exists,” Hegseth said, adding: “Its defeatist Democrats like you that cloud the minds of the American people and would otherwise fully support preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth said.
‘An unauthorized war’: Democrat grills Hegseth on US war with Iran
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat of New York, is up now. She begins by telling Hegseth: “I don’t know if you fully appreciate how much the American people do not support this war. It is an unauthorized war.”
She said New Yorkers are upset by the soaring cost of the war, and concerned about the death toll in Iran, particularly headlines confirming that a US missile struck a primary school in Minab, and the use of AI in warfare.
“I would just like to know why you have not sought the support of the American people?” she asked Hegseth in a testy exchange.
Hegseth retorted that the tone of the conversation was much different during the private session with the cameras off, a way of suggesting that Democrats are performing for the cameras.
“The question I would ask to you and to others is, what is the cost of a nuclear armed Iran?” Hegseth responded, insisting in the face of polling that shows the opposit that the administration does “have the support of the American people”.
“What is your response to targeting that has resulted in the destruction of schools, hospitals, civilian places? Why did you cut by 90% the division that’s supposed to help you not target civilians?” she asked.
Hegseth argued that the US’s commitment to preventing civilian deaths was “ironclad” commitment” and stronger than other countries.
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a staunch supporter of the president, called the US’s assault on Iran a “smashing military success”. He then asks Hegseth to explain what steps the US military is taking to mitigate US casualties.
Ensuring “force protection was maximized was the top priority”, Hegseth said.
The US has confirmed 13 service member deaths in the Iran war.
Caine confirms Russian involvement in Iran war
Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, has told senators that Vladimir Putin has aided Iran’s war effort, something the Kremlin has previously denied to the White House.
Caine declined to go into details, citing the public nature of the hearing, but said: ”There’s definitely some action there.”
The chair of the committee, Republican senator Roger Wicker, agreed. “There’s no question that Vladimir Putin’s Russia is taking serious action to undermine our efforts for success in Iran,” Wicker said.
In his opening remarks to the Senate committee, Hegseth repeated what he told the House panel yesterday:
As I said yesterday, and I’ll say it again today, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless naysayers and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans.
Defending Trump’s budget request, he said the president had “inherited a defense industrial base that had been hollowed out by years of America last policies, resulting in a diminished capacity to project strength.”
Protesters interrupt Hegseth’s opening statement
As Pete Hegseth was delivering his opening remarks, protesters interrupted him and was removed from the room.
One protester said as they were removed by security: “This is despicable, the American people [did] not want to go into this war.”
“We appreciate the first amendment rights of Americans to express themselves but disruptions of this hearing will not be tolerated,” said committee chair Roger Wicker, before inviting the defense secretary to continue his testimony.
Top Democrat delivers sweeping critique of Hegesth’s tenure
Senator Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate armed services committee, did not hold back in his opening remarks directed at Pete Hegseth.
Hegseth and Trump had “unwisely” taken the United States to war against Iran, he said.
He argued that the war has left the US in a worse strategic position than when it was started with the strait of Hormuz closed and 13 US military members killed. Many others have been injured, and equipment has been destroyed, he added.
“American families are bearing the cost of a war they wanted nothing to do with and have gained nothing from,” he went on.
Reed then said Hegseth’s statements on the war are “dangerously exaggerated”, as Iran’s regime and its military and nuclear capabilities remain intact.
“Mr Secretary, I am concerned that you have been telling the president what he wants to hear instead of what he needs to hear,” he told Hegesth.
Hegseth has often made “dangerous statements that are counter-productive to the mission”, Reed added, including “orders that would constitute war crimes”.
And on Hegseth’s personal agenda in overhauling the merit-based system of the military and firing dozens of senior military leaders, Reed said:
My colleagues and I have heard from countless service members throughout the ranks, many of whom will be watching right now, who are confused and disturbed by your actions. Hopefully you can explain them today.
He concluded:
The American people’s trust in our military took 250 years to build. You are dismantling it in a fraction of that time.
Meanwhile, King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at the White House to say farewell as their four-day state visit comes to an end.
The monarchs shook hands with Donald and Melania Trump, with Trump calling Charles, “the greatest king in my book,” before they entered the White House.
A few minutes later, the king and queen departed. They’re expected to head to Arlington cemetery to lay a wreath before leaving for Bermuda.
“We need more people like that in our country,” Trump told reporters after their car left.
To recap quickly, when he appeared before the House armed services committee yesterday, Pete Hegseth denied that the US-Israel war on Iran, which the Pentagon estimates has cost the US at least $25bn, is “a quagmire” and claimed critics of the operation posed a greater threat to the US and the war effort than Iran itself.
“The biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” he said.
Here’s my colleague Joseph Gedeon’s report:
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine return to Capitol Hill today for a grilling from the Senate armed services committee.
Formally billed as a hearing on the defense department’s $1.5tn budget request, questioning is likely to focus mostly on the US’s deeply unpopular war on Iran, as it did yesterday in what was at times a fiery and combative hearing, as well as the tumultuous internal politics of Hegseth’s Pentagon.
It’s due to start shortly, I’ll be watching and will bring you all the key lines here.
Louisiana postpones primaries as states rush to redraw districts after supreme court ruling
Further to the report I brought you earlier from the Washington Post, Louisiana has now moved to postpone its May primaries, as other southern states are also scrambling to redraw congressional districts in response to yesterday’s supreme court ruling that severely weakened the landmark Voting Rights Act.
Before the supreme court’s decision, eliminating a key protection against racial discrimination in drawing voting maps, some states had already begun initiating processes to redraw districts and gut black voting power. More states have now followed, with governors calling for special sessions to redraw congressional districts, potentially before the midterm elections in November.
Louisiana’s governor Jeff Landry and attorney general Liz Murrill, both Republicans, said in a joint statement today that the state can no longer use its current districts to carry out the primaries after the supreme court ruling. Early voting had been scheduled to begin on Saturday in advance of the 16 May primary.
“The State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map,” Landry and Murrill said in the statement on social media Thursday. “We are working together with the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office to develop a path forward.”
Louisiana is currently represented in the US House by four Republicans and two Democrats. A revised map could give Republicans a chance to pick up at least one more seat in the November midterm elections — adding to GOP gains elsewhere in Trump’s national redistricting battle.
Here’s my colleague Adria R Walker’s report:
The US president also ramped up his criticism of German chancellor Friedrich Merz, saying he should focus on trying to end Russia’s war in Ukraine and spend “less time on interfering” with the effort to tackle “the Iran nuclear threat”.
Trump wrote on Truth Social:
The Chancellor of Germany should spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine (Where he has been totally ineffective!), and fixing his broken Country, especially Immigration and Energy, and less time on interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat, thereby making the World, including Germany, a safer place!
He has been sparring with Merz in recent days, after the German leader told students on Monday that Iran’s “very skilled negotiators” are “humiliating” the United States and that “the Americans clearly have no strategy” for the war.
Trump responded on Tuesday, saying Merz “doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” The next day, he threatened to reduce the number of US troops deployed in Germany.
Donald Trump has posted on Truth Social this morning renewing his call for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel, saying “it better be soon”.
When is ABC Fake News Network firing seriously unfunny Jimmy Kimmel, who incompetently presides over one of the Lowest Rated shows on Television? People are angry. It better be soon!!!
It comes after he and his wife Melania Trump called for the network to sack the late-night talk show host over a monologue he delivered prior to the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner, accusing the comedian of inciting violence.
Kimmel has refused to apologize for saying that Melania was glowing “like an expectant widow”, pointing out that he made the comment two days before the shooting and that the joke was about the age difference between Donald and Melania.
“Donald Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants to say, as are you and as am I. Because under the First Amendment, we have, as Americans, a right to free speech,” Kimmel said last Tuesday.
The US’s top media watchdog, the Federal Communications Commission, led by Trump-appointed chair Brendan Carr, announced on Tuesday that it is accelerating the review of eight local broadcasting licenses used by ABC, in a move critics see as a clear example of political and regulatory retribution against a disfavored broadcaster.
Governor Janet Mills drops Maine Senate bid weeks before primary clash
Maine governor Janet Mills has dropped her bid for the US Senate just weeks before the Democratic primary in a race that reflected an internal party debate over how to win one of this year’s most competitive Senate seats.
“While I have the drive and passion, commitment and experience, and above all else – the fight – to continue on, I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources,” Mills said in a statement. “That is why today I have made the incredibly difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the United States Senate.”
Mills, a two-term governor and longtime Maine politician, was seen as one of Democrats’ top 2026 recruits when she entered the Senate race last year. She had the backing of Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, and prominent left-leaning advocacy groups hoping to unseat Susan Collins, a Republican senator, and help the party win control of the closely divided Senate.
But Mills struggled to outshine Graham Platner, a first-time candidate and her opponent in the 9 June Democratic primary. Platner has maintained strong popularity despite facing controversy over past comments he made online and a tattoo he had that is widely recognized as a Nazi symbol.
The contest between Platner and Mills was part of a broader debate within the Democratic party over how best to defeat Republicans and win back some power in Donald Trump’s Washington, where the GOP controls the White House and both chambers of Congress.
Strait of Hormuz will be ‘free from American presence’, Iran’s parliament speaker says
Iran’s powerful parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has vowed that Tehran’s control over the strait of Hormuz would ensure a future without US presence in the region.
“Today, by managing the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will provide itself and its neighbours with the precious blessing of a future free from American presence and interference,” said Ghalibaf in a post on X to mark the national “Persian Gulf” day.
It follows Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khameini saying in a written message read out on state television that the United States had been defeated in its war on Iran, and that foreigners who act with greed and malice have no place in the Gulf, “except at the bottom of its waters”.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/apr/30/donald-trump-pete-hegseth-iran-war-oil-king-charles-latest-news-updates
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