During an interview aired on Thursday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “The Hill,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) said that congressional oversight includes seeing how much spending “is being funded for the Iranian situation and where is the endgame”, which Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was “vague on” and said that the timeline for “a promised shorter endgame” in Iran has “been exceeded.”
Capito said, “I do think that the American public’s growing weary. Sen. Justice (R-WV) and I represent the same folks. We can feel that in our local conversations, and I do think a promised shorter endgame has now been — timeline’s been exceeded. We’ve lost four of our servicemembers. That is always devastating to Americans and American families, not just those most closely affected. And I think that’s where you’re beginning to see the weariness creep in. On the cost side, Secretary Hegseth was before our committee to talk about paying the troops, more munitions, making sure the technology and protections are in line for the future. And I think that’s an important aspect of why we need to fund, and — but also, it’s part of our oversight to see how much of this is being funded for the Iranian situation and where is the endgame? And he was vague on that, because I think what we see is it’s popping up. There’s more — they’re attacking seven countries. The Houthis are involved in this. It’s widening in a different way –.”
Host Blake Burman cut in to ask, “Should the president double down here, as he makes a big decision, should he continue to push forward?”
Capito answered, “I think the president is going to push forward, because I think he wants to bring them to the table and he wants to bring him to the table with people that tell the truth. And we haven’t found those people yet, or at least that the ones that made the last MOU were not those people. But I think that’s the best way to exert power at this point, and force and we have the power and force to do that.”
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