Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing tough questions at his third Capitol Hill hearing in three days, this time from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Thursday over the U.S. military posture with Israel reportedly threatening an imminent attack on Iran.
Khanna repeatedly asked Hegseth whether he could commit to not directly attacking Iran unless the Islamic Republic first fired on the United States. Hegseth would make no such assurance.
“Will you commit to us not bombing them?” Khanna repeated, noting some prominent MAGA figures have spoken out against the risk of war with Iran.
“It wouldn’t be prudent for me to commit or not to commit. My job is to be postured and prepared,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth isn’t the only big political figure on Capitol Hill.
Three Democratic governors, New York’s Kathy Hochul, Minnesota’s Tim Walz and Illinois’s JB Pritzker, are appearing before the House Oversight
committee
on sanctuary cities.
The hearing was scheduled weeks before Los Angeles protests prompted the White House to call up California’s National Guard and deploy 700 Marines to quell the crowds.
President Trump gave extensive remarks at the White House today as he
signed a measure
to overturn California’s EV mandate. He indicated he may
raise auto tariffs
in the future, and addressed the “No kings” protests that are set for Saturday, his birthday and the day of the Army’s 250th birthday celebrations.
Other stories to watch:
-
Republicans lay groundwork for ‘total tax cliff’ at end of Trump’s term
-
Supreme Court revives lawsuit over mistaken FBI raid
-
DHS sends out provocative new poster
Follow along here for updates today on this and more.
