The View sounded off on United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and the U.S. Department of Defense in the wake of a fatal missile strike at an elementary school in Iran, and also took a moment to call out the Pentagon’s reported spending.
The co-hosts discussed the strike that killed over 165 people in Iran on Feb. 28, and reports that the U.S. was at fault. Sara Haines noted that the Department of Defense was operating on”information from years ago” to carry out this strike, and also pointed out that Hegseth “slashed a couple offices,” including the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Office and the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence.
“These were two areas that were gutted by over 90% of their workforce. This was the area that tried to insure less civilian death,” she elaborated. “The General that we’ve been seeing, General Dan Caine, even said in his hearing that they were seeing positive impacts from these programs that were newer in the last few years.”
Haines had trouble understanding how Hegseth “had an excess of a budget” to spend, referring to the government spending watchdog Open the Books‘ report that the Pentagon spent $93.4 billion in September 2025.
“He had to spend $93 billion in September because he risked the, you either spend it or you lose it,” she said.
Sheryl Underwood chimed in, “Use it or lose it.”
Haines continued, “So you have a man that’s overseeing the largest department, Department of Defense, with all these people, all this money, and he had to go spend $225 million on furniture, $15.1 million on ribeye steaks. The list goes on and on. You are not equipped to lead a group when you are cutting jobs that allow for civilians to be protected while having to spend billions of dollars at the end of the year because you didn’t spend it properly as the year on.”
Joy Behar said, “None of them are qualified for any of this.”
Underwood added, “But that’s what they questioned when he was being confirmed, that he didn’t know how to run it. And he’s proven it. If you got a damn Costco card, you could’ve got all that stuff cheaper, if you were going to do it.”
The comedian and guest co-host also cited her own experience in the military, explaining that she was taught about the Geneva Convention, and that the U.S. “did not shoot at noncombatants.”
“As a medic, I was considered a noncombatant,” she said. “This is not the American way. We don’t go against civilians and not children. How can we be an honorable nation, how can countries trust us to do the right thing if we’re in there doing the wrong thing? And if you have the wrong information, then maybe you got the wrong information of what you’re going in there to bomb in the first place.”
The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.
