'You, sir, are the failure': Sen. Gary Peters and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth clash in heated hearing on Iran war

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Michigan Senator Gary Peters got into a heated exchange on Tuesday, with the latter accusing the former of being a failure when it comes to the war in Iran. Hegseth, along with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, was testifying in Congress, hoping to land a supplemental funding package of approximately $70 billion to aid American efforts in Iran. The verbal spat started when Sen. Peters said that the Trump administration's efforts to win the war had been a failure.

Hegseth took offence to that statement, claiming that such a characterization of the troops was not necessary. "Your characterization of this incredible effort as a failure is reckless, and I think it's irresponsible, and I think it smears the sacrifice of the troops that are out there making on behalf of the American people to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Shame on you and others who call this a quagmire and a failure, and then you want to turn around and say you support the warfighter. Either you do, or you don't," he said.

Sen. Peters responded by saying that he was not referring to the American troops taking part in the effort, but rather, the leadership that was guiding them. "If you listened to my comments, you would have heard me say how amazing our warfighters are," he said. "I will tell you how I used the word failure. I used the word failure for their leaders. You, sir, are the failure. Not the men and women who are on that front line."

The Michigan Senator slammed Hegseth for failing to have a "winning strategy," which, he said, led to service members being in harm's way. "Their leaders have failed them," Peters continued, "You don't have a strategy. You don't have a long-term plan to actually win this war. Win the war. The men and women are going to be able to do it, but they need to have leadership. When will you show leadership?"

The Defense Secretary did not take the comments well, as he slammed Peters and other Democrats for refusing to fund the troops and participating in partisan politics. "You won't show any political courage to actually fund our department because you have Trump derangement syndrome and can't actually commit to anything meaningful. So I put this on you, Senator," he stated. Sen. Peters then reminded Hegseth that the Pentagon had a trillion-dollar budget and was asking to raise it to $1.5 trillion.

"It's not a question of money; it's a question of leadership and understanding what it takes to actually win," he added. Hegseth then accused the Michigan Senator and Democrats of displaying "political cowardice" by not funding the troops during a time the country was engaged in a war. Meanwhile, the war in Iran has claimed the lives of 17 service members, three of whom were killed after hostilities resumed between Tehran and Washington as the memorandum of understanding for a peace deal was rendered null and void.