The Pentagon faces mounting questions over why the US Navy's mine-clearing ships were thousands of miles from the Strait of Hormuz, berthed in Singapore, in the weeks before America went to war with Iran.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared before the House Armed Services Committee on 29 April 2026 for the first time since the Trump administration launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran on 28 February. The hearing was formally convened to scrutinise the Pentagon's record budget request for fiscal year 2027, with Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine expected to make the case for more drones, missile defence systems and warships. But the session quickly moved beyond dry budget lines into a pointed examination of strategic failures, not least the bewildering movement of America's minesweeping fleet away from the Persian Gulf on the eve of the conflict.
