Rep. Maggie Goodlander criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s appearance before Congress today, where he requested $ 87 billion for the War in Iran. <\/p>\n
JAKE TAPPER, CNN: Congresswoman, what did you make of Hegseth calling Democrats cowards in that fiery exchange at the end of the hearing when he was pressed on what the exact plan is for the Iran war? REP. MAGGIE GOODLANDER: (D-NH): Jake, once again today we saw in such crystal clear terms why Pete Hegseth has absolutely no business serving as Secretary of Defense. He lacks the judgment, he lacks the experience, and he clearly lacks the temperament to be holding one of the most important positions of public trust in the world. Today’s hearing was another really disheartening and disturbing performance by Pete Hegseth and proves the point that he has no business serving in that job. TAPPER: Hegseth repeatedly said that the money that they’re requesting, this $ 87 billion, is about cleaning up the Biden administration’s mess and equipping U.S. troops with the best possible technologies. You know a little bit about the Biden administration, what’s your response? GOODLANDER: My response is this, look, the president made a choice on February 28th to launch a war in Iran. He did this just a matter of hours after coming here to the United States Congress and delivering the longest State of the Union in American history, where he did not make the case for war in Iran to the American people and he did not make the case for war in Iran to the Congress. We are living with the consequences of this war of choice every day, and what we heard again today from the Secretary of Defense was a shifting set of objectives and rationales without any clear strategy moving forward. It’s just plainly unacceptable, and they’ve come to ask for the biggest defense budget in American history but cannot explain how this money is going to be put to use for the American people at a moment when we are facing a profound affordability crisis and hardworking Americans are feeling the pain as a direct result of this war at the gas pump, at the pharmacy, at the grocery store. This is not what anyone signed up for.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n