WATCH: Hegseth says Pentagon did ‘every conceivable thing’ to protect troops in Iran drone attack

Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Penn., asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth whether there was anything more that could have been done to safeguard the U.S. service members who were killed or wounded in an Iranian drone attack at a facility in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.

“I'm telling you that as a department, we did every conceivable thing at my level and every echelon down to ensure the maximum force protection for our troops,” Hegseth said. “We live in a dangerous world, in a dangerous place against a determined enemy that can't have a nuclear weapon, and that requires sacrifice and risk.”

“But it does not mean we didn't care,” he added.

Deluzio said there was no protection for overhead drone strikes in a known threat environment, “so I'm struggling to understand how your and your spokesman's answer is that every possible measure was taken.”

Hegseth and other Pentagon officials were invited to testify before the House Armed Services Committee on President Donald Trump’s 2027 budget request to  increase defense spending to $1.5 trillion – the largest proposed amount in decades.

The House hearing gave lawmakers a chance to question the defense leaders for the first time since the start of the war on Iran, which the U.S. and Israel launched at the end of February. While Hegseth has touted the Iran war as “a gift to the world,” polls have found that a majority of Americans disapprove of the conflict and the Trump administration’s handling of it.

Newsletters

PBS News podcasts

Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app

Find more from PBS News at

Subscribe to our YouTube channel