During Wednesday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) questioned Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth about President Trump's approach to Iran.
00:03Welcome, everyone. Thank you for your testimony, and more importantly, your service.
00:08Secretary Hegseth, the president at a press gaggle just now at the White House said of strikes against Iran,
00:15Senator Shaheen's question, I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.
00:23You had referred to these questions as a presidential-level decision, is that right?
00:27And I think that's always true. Advisors advise and presidents decide.
00:33But it's your job to have contingency plans for everything that the president may or may not decide. Is that correct?
00:40That is correct.
00:42And no one should be surprised or scandalized that the Pentagon has lots and lots of contingency plans.
00:48Senator, our job is to have contingency plans.
00:51It's like in Armageddon, Billy Bob Thornton's character Truman, speaking of NASA, could have been speaking of the Pentagon.
00:57You're geniuses. You're just thinking stuff up, and you've got people in another room backing them up. Is that right?
01:03We plan.
01:08And although it's true in every part of the government, it's probably no more true in your department that it's a presidential-level decision.
01:15This is the president's core constitutional responsibilities as the commander-in-chief.
01:19I mean, it's important what he does with labor and HUD and the rest, but as the commander-in-chief, it's the most important role he has, and therefore, you're the department where you take the most direct guidance from the president.
01:31Everyone in the department has to support the president's decisions once those decisions are made, correct?
01:36Correct, Senator. As I've said, there's only one person that was elected president of the United States, and the American people elected him to make these decisions on their behalf, and if and when those decisions are made, the department is prepared to execute.
01:52And I know that you welcome and have robust policy debates in the department, and no doubt you have very differing views on many questions, whether it's what to do with Iran or what kind of aircraft or ships we need to build or what the quality of commissaries are on our basis, and that's welcome.
02:15You need that kind of robust debate to make the right recommendations, but once the president's decision has been made on any question, that's final, right? That's your standard?
02:26The president welcomes, I've watched it in real time, views on all issues from all aspects, but yes, once those have been represented, intelligence represented, options represented, upsides, downsides, threats, of course, when the president makes a call as the commander-in-chief, we will execute.
02:44Well, thank you, because I know there was some controversy earlier this year inside the department, and not everyone seemed to be on the same page that you and the president are after presidential decisions had been made, and you had to make some tough decisions there, and I commend you for those decisions.
02:58I think you did the right thing. You have to make sure that everyone stays on the same page and everyone supports presidential decisions.
03:04One decision I also want to call out, since we haven't spoken about it here, and I'm not sure we will, and I want to commend you for it as well, and commend your team, is the redesignation of base names for army bases.
03:16In the summer of 2020, as a Jacobin fever swept the country during the BLM riots, it was decided to rename several army bases.
03:27To be honest with you, I think most soldiers serving those bases didn't even know who they were named after.
03:31They just had fond recollections for decades of their time at Fort Benning or Fort Bragg or other places.
03:38And I think now you've completed the effort to redesignate those names, those bases, to the names that so many generations of soldiers served at for new American heroes. Is that right?
03:53Yes. All of the previous names for the U.S. Army installations have been returned.
03:58Well, thank you. I think that was an inspired approach. It complies with the law.
04:02It teaches a new generation of soldiers about those who went before them, and I hope the matter is said.
04:08Oh, I especially want to commend you for Fort Gordon, named after Gary Gordon, one of two Delta operators, along with Randy Shugart,
04:14who willingly laid down their life in the Battle of Mogadishu to protect their buddies, not even in the battle at the time,
04:21and against commanders' repeated wishes until they pestered the commanders finally to let them get on the ground and protect those soldiers on the ground and laid down their life.
04:29I think that was an inspired choice. One final question.
04:33You'd say that everything needs to be on the table to address our munitions crisis.
04:37We all agree on this committee. We've all been working hard for many years on that.
04:41Private industry is very important, but you have your own organic industrial base.
04:46Ammunition plants, arsenals, depots, that's included in everything, right, that we need to look at every possible source
04:52to address every potential choke point in our munitions supply chain.
04:57Every possible source.
04:58Thank you. General Cain, you agree with that, I presume, that our organic industrial base,
05:02especially the arsenals and ammunition plants and depots, are a solution to this problem,
05:06not a part of the problem or a relic of the past?
05:09I do, sir, and I'm aware of your letter to the Army on that matter, which I know they're looking at.
