Hegseth to Congress: Fund the Fight Now, or Fold on Iran

On Wednesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered some striking testimony before the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee. The testimony centered on Operation Epic Fury, on denying Iran nuclear weapons, and on the progress of that conflict to date.

In his opening statements, Secretary Hegseth blasted Congressional Democrats and some Republicans, as he puts it, for not supporting the effort.

.@SecWar on Iran: "The biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans... two months in on an existential fight for the safety of the American people. Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb. We are… pic.twitter.com/lgXGlZ2r2H
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 29, 2026

SecWar said:

"I look forward to sharing the incredible successes of our military, achieved in a matter of weeks. President Trump, unlike other presidents, has had the courage to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon, and he’s ironclad on that. With the best negotiator in the world driving that deal.
"The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary, we face at this point are the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans. Two months in—I remind you—two months into a conflict, lest I remind you, and my generation understands how long we were in Iraq, how long we were in Afghanistan, how long we were in Vietnam—two months in, on an existential fight for the safety of the American people, Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb. We are proud of this undertaking. I’m proud that President Trump has had the courage to do it. And I look forward to sharing more about what our troops have accomplished."

SecWar Hegseth also described how the defense industry is being brought back to a more aggressive footing:

.@SecWar: "Under the previous administration, we were focused on offshoring and outsourcing—riddled with cost overruns and degraded capabilities. Under the leadership of @POTUS, our builder-in-chief, we are reversing this systemic decay and putting our defense industrial base… pic.twitter.com/lTibDvjQ57
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 29, 2026

Again, SecWar said, defending the War Department's budget requests:

"A nation's ability to build, innovate, and support the critical needs of its warfighters at speed and at scale is the foundation upon which its survival rests. However, upon taking office on January 20th, 2025, President Trump inherited a defense industrial base that had been hollowed out by years of America Last policies, resulting in a diminished ability to project strength.
"Under the previous administration, we were focused on offshoring and outsourcing, riddled with cost overruns and degraded capabilities. Under the leadership of President Trump, our builder-in-chief, we are reversing this systemic decay and putting our defense industrial base back on a wartime footing. If you ask anyone at our Pentagon, urgency informs everything we do. We're rebuilding a military that the American people can be proud of—one that instills nothing less than unrelenting fear in our adversaries and the utmost confidence in our allies. We fight to win in every scenario. The 1.5 trillion dollar FY27 budget put forward by the president will build upon a historic $1 trillion FY26 top line and continue to reverse four years of underinvestment and mismanagement of the Biden administration."

Here's the issue with Operation Epic Fury: There's a legal deadline approaching.

Putin’s Iran Play Raises Stakes in Already-Tense Region

Several key Republicans are indeed questioning an extension of the conflict:

But the hearing comes just two days before a 60-day deadline that some Republicans say will force the administration to draw down its military campaign in the Middle East absent congressional approval.
Several Senate Republicans, including Sens. John Curtis, R-Utah, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., have voiced opposition to extending the war past the two-month mark. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is drafting an Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) that would force the upper chamber to weigh in on the war.
It remains to be seen whether House Republicans will apply the same pressure on the administration to end the war.
The War Powers Act permits a 30-day extension for the president to continue hostilities without Congress’ sign-off, but it is not clear whether President Donald Trump plans to adhere to that timeline or whether lawmakers will factor in the ceasefire with the looming deadline.

That's an interesting note. We kept troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for years. In Afghanistan, when the disastrous Biden administration withdrawal was completed, we ended up handing that country back to the same vicious cabal of goblins who were running it before 9/11. Iraq is now very nearly an Iranian client state. Iran is, or at least was, the key to the whole region; they were a regional hegemon, they were funding every Islamic terror group in the region and beyond, and they were, without doubt, working to develop nuclear weapons.

The primary purpose of government, any government, at any level, is to protect the liberty and property of the citizens. Anyone who doesn't understand that a nuclear-armed Iran is a direct threat to our liberty and property simply has not been paying attention to world events since 1979. The job is very nearly done; we can argue the wisdom of starting Operation Epic Fury all day long, but the fact is, this is where we are. We have them beat. We hold all the cards. There is no reason to equivocate or give ground on a deal. And Congress, frankly, should get behind this effort.

Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.

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