Pentagon, two days of hearings for Hegseth: Congress pressing on budget and Iran

The head ofPentagon, Pete Hegsethis expected for two days of fire atCongress: tomorrow and Thursday he will be heard by two commissions to respond to the request of$1.5 trillion budget per le armed forceson strategies inconflict with Iranand on thepurge of military leaders. Hegseth will be heard tomorrow before the House Armed Services Committee, whose appointment had not been advertised, and on Thursday before the same committee but of the Senate. The latter is considered the most delicate appointment for theSecretary of Defensebecause it arrives at the moment in which the growth is recordedmistrusttowards him by theRepublican senators.

SecondThe Hillsome members of Congress would like him to “step aside” and these messages come as theWall Street Journalspoke of no confidence in the vice presidentJD Vancein the way Hegseth would handle the information on thewar in Iranand hidden the true numbers related to the depletion ofstockpiles of missile systems. Republican senators who spoke to The Hill anonymously said Hegseth would not be confirmed to lead the Pentagon ifTrumprenamed it today, and they claim that thechaos among the top staff al Department of Defenseunder his leadership is a source of grave concern.

The reasons for the mistrust and internal clashes

I hawks on defense mattersin the Senate they could not digest the dismissal of the Army chief of staffRandy Georgeand were surprised and disappointed by the dismissal of the secretary of the NavyJohn Phelan. A Republican senator confessed that there have long been doubts within the Republican group in the Senate about thelack of experienceof Hegseth in managing a large and complexbureaucracyas well as a certain distrust towards hisoften aggressive leadership style. But mistrust increased afterclashes between Hegseth and the military leaderswhich instead count on solid relations with Congress. And of further concern is the ongoing conflict with the secretary of the ArmyDan Driscoll. “I think Hegseth is wrong aboutstaff appointments. He removed some of the most extraordinary generals we had in the service. I don’t really understand what’s going on,” the senator saidThom Tillisaccording to which Hegseth “does not have the experience to handle groups much larger” than the “30 or 40 people” he led as a former infantry officer atMinnesota National Guard. “In some ways, maybe not as extreme, but in some ways he’s displaying the same lack of experience that got the former Homeland Security secretary into troubleKristi Noem,” added Tillis. A comparison that should not leave Hegseth alone, given that Noem was ousted by the presidentDonald Trump.

The Pentagon’s response and the upcoming hearings

Pentagon spokesmanSean Parnelldid not want to respond directly to the senators’ criticisms, limiting himself to stating that Hegseth does not comment on the departures of senior officers, but noted that it would be difficultreform the huge Department of Defensewithout changing the leaders of theleadership militare. Tomorrow and Thursday, the head of the Pentagon will have the opportunity to explain his line on this too. And, this time, theenemy fireit may not just come from the Democrats.