# The High Cost of Hegseth and Trump's Forever War Hits Home

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/the-high-cost-of-hegseth-and-trump-s-forever-war-hits-home
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737/the-high-cost-of-hegseth-and-trump-s-forever-war-hits-home.md
Podcast: [Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff](https://stenobird.com/podcast/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff-981737)
Published: 2026-05-03T10:48:19+00:00
Episode link: https://bleav.com/shows/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff/episodes/the-high-cost-of-hegseth-and-trumps-forever-war-hits-home/
Audio file: https://pdrl.fm/c39fb6/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/1385/injector.simplecastaudio.com/c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626/episodes/4b1b0cdb-e0c2-4673-add4-787a7a96c596/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=c67dcf2c-bdc6-42d2-91a1-db918b8e8626&awEpisodeId=4b1b0cdb-e0c2-4673-add4-787a7a96c596&feed=8GTvjwcf
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Duration seconds: 937

## Resource

Sixty days. $25 billion. No open Strait of Hormuz, no enriched uranium recovered, no regime change, and gas prices up 42% since late February. That's the scoreboard on Iran, and it's the backdrop for Pete Hegseth's first real hearing — where combat veterans Seth Moulton and Pat Ryan finally put the Secretary of Defense through the wringer. Paul Rieckhoff joins the conversation to break down what oversight looks like when it actually shows up, why JD Vance and Dan Driscoll are watching, and why this war is metastasizing into something bigger than Iran.

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## Transcript

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