GOP Congressman Calls Top Pentagon Official’s Testimony ‘Gross’ and ‘Disingenuous’

Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican from Ohio, tore into a top Department of Defense official during a fiery hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday, calling his testimony “gross” and “disingenuous.”

The contentious exchange underscores Republicans’ wariness about the Pentagon’s decision-making process as it begins a war with Iran, marking a potential schism between the White House and lawmakers on Capitol Hill that could affect how the conflict is carried out.

Elbridge Colby, the under secretary of defense for policy, appeared in front of the committee to talk in part about the release of the National Defense Strategy in January, a document outlining the Trump administration’s general defense policy and posture.

However, lawmakers quickly became annoyed with Colby’s answers. When Turner asked if the Trump administration applies NATO’s Article 5 security guarantee to all of the alliance’s countries, Turner snapped at Colby’s lengthy response, saying, “It’s a yes-or-no question.”

“What’s been so difficult, and what’s really kind of gross sitting here listening to you, is that the chairman has said that he feels like you’re dishonest,” Turner said. “You have been so disingenuous. Every time you answer a question, you feel this need to just continue on in these clarifications that are really very unnecessary. These clarifications that you give make us all concerned about your commitment to the truth.”

Turner went on to express worry that Colby and other Pentagon officials were unilaterally making decisions without consulting the White House.

“You say, ‘Our decisions are aligned with the president,’ as if you’re reinterpreting the president’s decision-making. I want to know about the president’s decision-making, not your interpretation about being aligned,” Turner said. “Because up here, we’re losing confidence as to whether or not Mr. Colby is going into a room and trying to decide whether or not he’s aligned with the president, or whether or not President Trump is making decisions, because we’re all comfortable with President Trump’s decision. We’re not comfortable with Mr. Colby’s.”

Turner expressed that he was “very concerned” about the policymaking within the department, and that it appeared as if Colby was making decisions without President Trump’s approval.

Colby responded by saying he makes “a point to be truthful” and that “the secretary is primarily the one who is over the White House, but we make sure that we are very lined up.”

“You said it again: ‘Lined up.’ I want to make certain the decision-making is President Trump’s,” Turner responded. “We are very concerned in this committee that that is not necessarily happening at times, and that’s what we try to assert.”

The back-and-forth between Colby and Republican lawmakers highlights the growing friction between Congress and the White House when it comes to launching a protracted war in the Middle East. But just days ago on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Turner defended Trump and the joint U.S.-Israeli operations in Iran, saying that the country remained a threat even after the U.S. bombed three of its nuclear sites in June 2025.

“The opportunity is there to eliminate an imminent threat that is an imminent threat to the United States and our operations in the area and our ally,” Turner said when asked about the importance of striking Iran now.