United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has faced his first public questioning from Congress on the US-Israel war with Iran.

Over hours of tense testimony alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, Hegseth batted away questions about the long-term goals and timeline of war, which began with the US-Israel launching attacks on Iran on February 28.

For the first time, the Pentagon publicly put the price tag of the war so far at $25bn, with Hegseth delivering an at-times caustic defence of US President Donald Trump’s policy. Hegseth also defended the White House’s historic request of a $1.5 trillion defence budget.

He spoke shortly after the war with Iran passed its two-month mark. Fighting has been largely paused since April 8, with the US imposing a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump has repeatedly promised to resume attacks if no progress is made on stalled ceasefire talks, writing on social media early Wednesday, there would be “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY“.

Here are some key moments from Hegseth’s hearing.

$25-billion pricetag

Speaking alongside Hegseth, Jules Hurst III, the Pentagon’s acting comptroller, publicly put an official price tag on the war for the first time at $25bn. Hurst said “most of that” price was in munitions, as well as the cost of surging assets to the Middle East and equipment lost in the fighting.

During later questioning, Hegseth would not say if the figure accounted for damage to US military bases in the region or the cost of backfilling the US weapons stock. The US media has reported that the administration is considering asking Congress for $200bn more for the war effort, although an official request has not yet been made.

In an exchange with Representative Salud Carbajal, a Democrat, Hegseth struck a defiant tone over the cost to US taxpayers.

“What is it worth to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon?” he said.

Questions about Iran’s nuclear programme

It was on the subject of Iran’s nuclear programme that Hegseth faced some of the harshest questioning, with lawmakers grilled the Pentagon chief on the war’s aims.

Representative Adam Smith, a Democrat, seized on Hegseth’s apparently contradicting statements that Iran’s nuclear programme was “obliterated” following the 12-day war with Iran in 2025 and that it presented an imminent threat in the run-up to the most recent war.

“We had to start this war, you just said, 60 days ago, because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. Now you’re saying that it was completely obliterated,” Smith said. “Iran’s nuclear program is exactly what it was before this war started.”

“Their facilities are bombed and obliterated,” Hegseth responded. “Their ambitions continued, and they’re building a conventional shield.”

Don’t call it a ‘quagmire’

In one of the most heated exchanges of the day, Hegseth bristled when Representative John Garamendi, a Democrat, called the war a “quagmire” and a “political and economic disaster at every level”.

The Pentagon chief accused the lawmaker of “handing propaganda ⁠to our enemies”.

“The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary, we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” Hegseth charged.

Later in the hearing, Representative Seth Moulton seized on Hegseth’s words, asking, “Do you think Congress was smart or feckless when it failed to ask tough questions of the Bush administration and gave them a blank check for Iraq?”

Hegseth, who served as an Army National Guard officer in Iraq, has since criticised the military operation and Washington’s involvement in “endless wars” and “nation building”.

“It’s a false comparison,” Hegseth responded.

Moulton shot back, it was “probably a good idea” for Congress to ask tough questions.

Hegseth also maintained that the Trump administration had “looked at all aspects” of the possibility Iran might close the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran’s control of the key fossil fuels shipping route has proven to be a main point of leverage in the war.

‘No quarter’ for enemies?

Moulton also asked Hegseth about his past statement that US forces would allow “no quarter, no mercy for our enemies”.

The phrase has historically referred to killing enemy combatants, even if they have surrendered, a war crime under international and humanitarian law.

When asked if he stood by the statement, Hegseth responded: “The Department of War fights to win, and we ensure that our war fighters have the rules of engagement necessary to be as effective as humanly possible”.

In another instance, Representative Ro Khanna asked Hegseth about the deadly US strike on a school in Minab, which killed at least 120 children.

“How much did it cost American taxpayers, in terms of the strike on the Iranian school where kids were killed, in terms of the missiles we used?” Khanna asked.

“That unfortunate situation remains under investigation,” Hegseth replied. “But I wouldn’t tie a cost to that.”

In another instance, Hegseth was asked about Trump’s threat to “destroy an entire civilization”. Did that show he was mentally fit to serve as president, Representative Sara Jacobs asked.

Hegseth called Trump the “sharpest and most insightful commander-in-chief we have had in generations”.

Caine appears to give higher US death toll

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also presented a stout defence of the war during his opening remarks, saying Iran remains “a weaker and less capable than they have been in decades”.

During the statement, Caine referenced 14 members of the US military who had died during the war. To date, the Pentagon has only identified 14 casualties. It was not immediately clear what was behind the discrepancy.

Republicans show support

While Democrats on the committee pursued a series of pointed questions, Republicans were generally supportive of Hegseth and the war.

That is significant, as Friday will mark 60 days since Trump officially notified Congress of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Under the 1973 War Powers Act, Trump is theoretically required to begin withdrawing troops after 60 days or receive congressional authorisation to keep fighting.

Republicans control both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and have largely indicated they will avoid a vote to officially authorise the war. That would leave the conflict on an unclear legal footing.

One Republican, Representative Nancy Mace, who had been sceptical of the war and its high price tag, instead praised Hegseth on Wednesday.

She said the Pentagon chief “surpassed all my expectations”.