Pete Hegseth was challenged over seemingly contradictory claims about Iran’s nuclear capabilities while testifying in front of a House committee on the Trump administration’s military budget. Democrat Congressman Adam Smith questioned why the President and the Defense Secretary had justified the 2026 attack on Iran as due to an “imminent threat” of Iranian nuclear weapons when they had often trumpeted 2025’s Operation Midnight Hammer strikes as having already “obliterated” the Middle East nation’s nuke program. Hegseth suggested that, despite the Midnight Hammer strikes, the Iranians had still not given up their nuclear ambitions. Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Dan Caine, were appearing before the House Armed Services Committee to be questioned on the 2027 $1.5 trillion budget, the largest increase in decades.