Hegseth Defends Iran War, Budget Before Congress

0:00It's April 30th. This is U.S. News Today, AI-powered stories shaping the nation. I'm Cory with the story. Pete Hegseth, the war secretary, faced Congress this week and back-to-back hearings before the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. It marked the first time a Trump Cabinet member publicly defended the Iran War on Capitol Hill since he kicked off two months ago without approval. All-makers grilled him on the fight and a massive 2027 defense budget proposal pushing spending to $1.5 trillion for more drones, missiles, and ships. Republicans largely back Hegseth's leadership, but a few raised flags over his firing of a top army general who turned around recruiting and modernization efforts. They also pressed for steps to avoid civilian casualties amid reports of a deadly strike on an Iranian school that killed over 165. People, many kids, Democrats hammered Hegseth on the war's fuzzy ingles with 13 U.S. troops

1:01dead and over 400 injured. High-gas prices from the closed-straight-of-formoos are hitting Walid's hard, and Reprocona called it a betrayal of Trump voters. The cost so far sits at $25 billion, mostly on bombs, though skeptics expected to climb near $100 billion. A key deadline looms Friday as a 60-day window for fighting without Congress runs out, but Hegseth claims a fragile truce pauses the clock. Concerns grow over depleted munitions stocks, blamed partly on past Ukraine aid with plans in the budget to ramp up production by over 40 percent. As pressure builds from both parties to wrap this up, Hegseth insists the Pentagon's ready to surge ahead, framing the budget as the fix to keep. Erick is strong, while the Iran stand-off drags on.