Top House Democrat Attacks Hegseth During Heated House Hearing: ‘What Is Your Plan?!’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was embedded squarely in the hot seat Tuesday as a leading Democratic congresswoman took him to task over the Pentagon’s plans for submarine production.

In a heated moment during the House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) demanded a written plan for ramping up production on submarines, for which she said the committee has made a “serious investment.”

But when Hegseth blamed Joe Biden’s administration for “squandering funds,” the line of questioning took a fiery turn.

Read the exchange here:

REP. ROSA DELAURO: So do we have a plan? Do you have a plan for making the necessary investments to ramp up submarine production to the necessary levels. And what is that plan?

PETE HEGSETH: Ma’am, first of all I want to thank this committee for the flexibility alongside FY25 and the continued resolution-

DELAURO: Well, I would hope you would thank this committee for the funding it has made. We have made a serious investment, so your first statement is inaccurate. We have focused squarely on submarines and we now want to know where that is going and what your plan is for the continued investments to meet production levels and make sure that is an area that’s covered for our national security.

PETE HEGSETH: Ma’am, I fully acknowledge the investment this committee has made in shipbuilding. The challenge is our department under the previous administration squandered a lot of that by-

DELAURO: Please, I want your plan! I’ve had difficulty with the prior administration and I don’t mind calling ’em out. What is your plan for the future?! Can we get that in writing and on paper so that we know where you’re going because don’t have anything today. We have zip, nada on knowing where you’re going! You can talk percentages, you can talk about whatever you want, but unless this committee sees dollars and cents and where you’re going and what your plan is then we may reconsider what you need to do to go forward. Give us the details.”

HEGSETH: “Congresswoman, we have the details and we will provide them for you.”

DELAURO Then let’s have them. My hope is that we can get to it before we go to a markup within a few hours here today.

Watch above via C-SPAN.