Amna Nawaz
@PBSNewsHour·5.3M subscribers·62.2K videos
WATCH: Hegseth says there’s a ‘sea change’ in morale among U.S. troops
Posted
April 29, 2026
Views
424
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April 29, 2026
424
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3:19Now PlayingRep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to describe morale among U.S. troops right now during a Wednesday a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee.
Hegseth said military leaders have “seen a sea change in the environment and the morale and the spirit in their formations.
“It isn't some secret sauce. It's, 'Don't treat us as a petri dish in your social justice exercise or your or your social engineering approach,'” he added. “Just let us do our job. Let us get back to basics.”
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.
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