Hegseth interrupted by protesters during Senate Appropriations Committee hearing – July 21, 2026

War Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday to field questions on the Pentagon’s multi-billion-dollar budget request to fund the military and replenish military supplies expended in the Iran war. 

Not even one minute into Hegseth’s opening statement before the committee, multiple interruptions from protesters were staged.

It began with one woman standing up, holding a “No War on Iran” banner, shouting, “We are against this war of aggression. We are against this illegal war!”

“This is against the Iranian people, 90 million people,” she continued. “Your hands are bloody of 17 Americans and 4,000 Iranians.”

About ten seconds after the woman was removed, another woman rose with a similar banner, shouting, “Stop bombing our children in Iran and Palestine! This is illegal!”

Another ten seconds after the hearing resumed, another man was dragged out by police for screaming and holding a banner.

A fourth woman stood up and began screaming almost immediately after the hearing resumed a third time, and the Capitol Police also took her out.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday amid escalations in the war with Iran in recent days.

Hegseth and Caine are detailing the Trump administration’s supplemental funding request for $67 billion to help cover the cost of the Iran conflict and replenish crucial military supplies, as well as a request for $1.5 trillion to fund the department in the next fiscal year.

“Rest assured that every dollar appropriated to the Department of War will be focused on building the lethality of our joint force, and reinforcing peace through strength,” Hegseth said in his opening statement.

The secretary did not mention Iran directly in his opening remarks but said the supplemental request includes $21 billion for readiness, which he said would include replacing “much of the equipment utilized during recent operations.”