By Ted Barrett, CNN
(CNN) — Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker is planning soon to hold the first public oversight hearing of the Iran war with top US Department of Defense officials testifying, CNN has learned.
Details on when and who will appear have not yet been finalized.
Asked if he expects Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine to appear, Wicker told CNN, “I can’t give you that information yet, but I hope to have public hearings with top officials from the department.”
“This would be oversight, yes,” of the war itself, he explained. “We will conduct oversight.”
Wicker twice said, “I hope” it will be in public session, making clear there has not been a final decision made on that point.
As the war with Iran nears the two-week mark, President Donald Trump has continued to make conflicting comments about when it might end. And to date, the GOP-led Congress has not held any open oversight hearings of the conflict, although there have been several classified sessions for members.
Wicker made his intentions known the same day Senate Majority Leader John Thune downplayed the need for separate public hearings into the war – something at least one member of his conference told CNN she wants.
GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska on Wednesday joined the chorus of calls from top Hill Democrats in demanding public testimony.
And she warned that an emergency funding package for the war effort — expected to cost tens of billions of dollars — would have a hard time passing Congress without a public justification from the administration and hearings on Capitol Hill.
“Absolutely we should have hearings,” said Murkowski, a senior appropriator. “I think the public should demand to know what the expectations are in terms of the path forward.”
She continued: “And so yes, we have a role as Congress. … If you haven’t built the case as to why we need to be doing more, it may be a challenge to get the support that you need. I want to make sure that the men and women who are in harm’s way have what they need, but I need to understand that.”
But Thune said he expects top defense and foreign policy officials to testify as part of the normal appropriations process and when testifying about the annual defense policy bill.
“There will be hearings, no doubt, in front of all the relevant committees that deal with national security issues. I mean, we are coming up on that period here,” he told reporters. “Those are all going to be hearings in which I’m sure all these issues will be litigated.”
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jim Risch said his committee will hold a classified session for its members next week.
Asked if the public might benefit from a public hearing where senators can ask tough questions of policy makers, Risch replied, “I want classified information and there’s a huge difference between classified information and open information.”
As for the concerns of Murkowski, who sits on the Appropriations Committee but not the Foreign Relations, Armed Services or Intelligence panels, Risch said, “Well, she should hold a hearing if that’s the case.”
Thune was also asked if the public would benefit from an open session with members probing administration officials.
“They’re holding news conferences,” he said. “You guys are covering them and putting out all the relevant information about the status of the of the conflict and a