Republicans resist calls for public hearings on the Iran war
As the U.S. war with Iran entered its third week, Congress had not held public hearings to examine the Trump administration’s rationale for the conflict, while Democrats sought to force lawmakers into a public debate, the Associated Press reported. Democrats said they were frustrated that lawmakers had not conducted substantive oversight in public, even as the conflict continued and the administration operated under the expectation that lawmakers would be briefed privately.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., criticized the approach, saying lawmakers have had “no oversight whatsoever” over what the executive branch is doing while “we’re spending a billion dollars a day,” and he said Democrats had not seen the kind of substantive debate they wanted.
Republicans in Congress largely avoided calls for hearings focused specifically on the Iran war, according to the AP report. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said last week that he did not expect public hearings specifically on the conflict, but he said it would come up in the regular rhythm of testimony on military policy and spending. Thune pointed to classified briefings from the Trump administration and said those sessions have been held behind closed doors.
Thune also said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had held regular news conferences and were “answering the hard questions that are being asked,” in his view. Republican committee chairs overseeing national security issues also indicated they did not have near-term plans for hearings specifically on the Iran war, though some acknowledged the value of lawmakers questioning officials in public.
Some Republicans appeared to look ahead to a supplemental request for war funding from the administration, but the AP reported that such a request was likely weeks away and would face a difficult path in Congress. Democrats, meanwhile, argued that additional Pentagon funding had already arrived through a package of priorities associated with Republicans’ marquee tax law passed last year, and they suggested the conflict’s cost should be paired with stronger oversight.
Despite the broader GOP resistance, AP reported that some Republicans were increasingly wary about the lack of high-level responses from the administration. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she did not want lawmakers to receive only “the invoice from the Department of Defense” describing expected costs, and she said she wanted the administration to be engaged with lawmakers. She also said lawmakers needed information in both classified briefings and public hearings so the public could better understand the conflict.
Another Republican senator, John Kennedy of Louisiana, exited a classified briefing while complaining that it was a “total waste of time” because officials were not able to provide answers that top-level Cabinet officials could provide. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican, said in the AP report that lawmakers should allow the administration’s objectives to play out before calling hearings, while Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota said he wished lawmakers could disclose more publicly but said classified briefings were necessary to protect U.S. service members because the war was under way.
Democrats said they are prepared to escalate their efforts if hearings are not scheduled. The AP report said a group of six Democrats warned that unless hearings include Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other Cabinet officials, they would call up daily votes on war powers resolutions. The resolutions, as described by the AP, would require Trump to seek congressional approval before carrying out additional attacks on Iran, and similar measures had already been rejected by both chambers in the Republican-controlled Congress.
Democrats said the voting tactics would consume valuable Senate floor time and force a debate on the conflict at a moment when Senate Republicans planned to spend much of the week moving Trump’s priority legislation on voting requirements. The group also hinted at other procedural moves intended to slow Senate work on other business. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters that unless there is a commitment for public hearings, “We’re not going to let the Senate go on with business as usual,” and “We’re not going to let the Senate be silenced,” according to the AP report.