U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth rallied support for U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn and touted the Department of Defense’s controversial $1.5 trillion budget request as necessary for national security during a visit to Iowa Monday.
The event at JR’s SouthPork Ranch at the Iowa State Fair was a fundraiser for Nunn’s reelection campaign. Nunn is running for his third term in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District.
Hegseth was originally slated to appear with Nunn in March, but the event was postponed shortly after Iowa servicemembers, two of whom were Nunn’s constituents and another who was a long-term resident of Iowa, were among the first killed in the conflict with Iran.
The rescheduled visit comes as the U.S. and Iran pass their 60-day deadline for establishing a final agreement to end the war. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in June, which expired Monday, according to Al Jazeera. Hegseth told the crowd that Nunn, a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, is a necessary ally in Congress for backing defense spending and the department’s war efforts in Iran.
“He's clear about it, and he's willing to take the tough votes to do the right thing on behalf of our war fighters, which is all you can ask for,” Hegseth said.
Nunn said in April he would not support a “forever war” but has voted against two resolutions passed by the U.S. House to remove the U.S. from hostilities with Iran.
In July, Hegseth told lawmakers he estimated the war with Iran has cost the U.S. $37.5 billion so far. Independent analysts have projected the cost closer to at $132 billion, according to The Hill.
Hegseth also promoted his controversial $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal for the 2027 budget while in Des Moines, saying servicemembers “deserve overwhelming firepower” in combat. He pointed to Nunn as someone who has the president's back.
“President Trump needs the type of leaders who understand why a $1.5 trillion budget, a one-time generational investment, is what is necessary to ensure that my kids and your kids, that your grandkids and my grandkids live in a free country, defended by the most powerful military in the world,” Hegseth said.
NPR reported that, if approved, it would be the largest defense budget in modern history. The White House reported it would be a 42% increase.
Hegseth says lives lost is the 'cost' for defending against nuclear threat
Hegseth’s visit comes after five military members from Iowa, or with close ties to the state, died in combat within the past year. The secretary said he has attended all or near all dignified transfers of the fallen soldiers at Dover Air Force Base.
Iowa Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and Staff Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard were killed in Syria in December.
Army Reserve Sgt. Declan Coady, Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien and Chief Warrant Officer Robert Marzan — a long-time Iowa resident — were killed in Kuwait in March, shortly after the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran.
“There is a cost to doing very difficult things, to going out and defending your country and ensuring radical Islamist crazies don't get a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth said. “I'm not willing to look my kids in the eye and say we had a chance to do something about it but we didn't.”
A sixth native-Iowan, Maj. Brad Hovey, died in a test flight crash near Edwards Air Force Base in California in June.
Nunn recognized the fallen soldiers and their families, thanking them for their service and calling Torres-Tovar’s and Howard’s families to the stage to be recognized.
“Iowa has paid a disproportionately high price for conflicts around the world, and at the same time has been on the front line in every major event, protecting us here on the homeland,” Nunn said.
Nunn has served nearly two decades in the Air Force, according to his website. He previously served as an airborne intelligence officer and as director of cybersecurity at the White House’s National Security Council under President Barack Obama.
Hegseth highlights elimination of DEI
Hegseth also touted the Department of Defense’s anti-DEI efforts, using a derogatory slur for transgender people.
"At the Department of War, we do training, not t-------,” he said, to cheers.
Last year, the Pentagon banned transgender soldiers from military service, following an executive order from President Donald Trump.
“We need guys like this man right here having our back in Congress as we get rid of DEI at the Defense Department," Hegseth said, referring to Nunn.
Nunn is running against Democratic state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, of West Des Moines, in November. In a statement from her campaign, Trone Garriott criticized Hegseth’s visit.
“It’s disgraceful that Zach Nunn and Pete Hegseth are partying together at a campaign stop in Iowa while our service members are under threat and facing poor conditions overseas. Our leaders should be focused on ending this war and keeping Americans deployed overseas safe, not fundraising for Zach Nunn’s campaign. “
