The moments when Hegseth lost his nerve during Congress questions on the Iran war

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsThe moments when Hegseth lost his nerve during Congress questions on the Iran warThe war has cost $25 billion so far, according to Pentagon numbers presented to the House Armed Services Committee during the contentious hearingStephen Groves Thursday 30 April 2026 10:43 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2967954","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/pete-hegseth-iran-war-congress-hearing-b2967954.html","title":"The moments Hegseth lost his nerve during Congress questions on the Iran war"}}CloseRyan and Deluzio grill Hegseth on protections for US troops killed in Iran warSign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_INSIDE_WASHINGTON","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideWashingtonNews","regSourceSection":"US politics","regSource...