U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is returning to Capitol Hill on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) for the last in a series of often combative hearings before lawmakers, who have pressed him on everything from a ban on transgender troops to his use of a Signal chat to share sensitive military plans.
The questions — which also have touched on his firings of top military leaders and even some of his inner circle of advisors — may be dominated by the escalation of airstrikes between Iran and Israel that threaten a potentially devastating regional war. But he is still expected to face sharp questions about his chaotic tenure, his opposition to women in combat jobs and efforts to shift funding from troop housing to border security.
