Top US intelligence officials set to testify about Iran war, threats
confronting the homeland
[March 18, 2026]
By ERIC TUCKER, DAVID KLEPPER and STEPHEN GROVES
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Trump administration national security officials
facing back-to-back congressional hearings starting Wednesday are
expected to be pressed on the war in Iran, including a deadly strike on
a school, as well as the FBI's capacity to prevent terror attacks inside
the United States.
The annual worldwide threats hearings involving the government's
senior-most intelligence officials are taking place at a time of
scrutiny over the U.S. military campaign in the Middle East and
heightened concerns about terrorism in the homeland following recent
attacks at a Michigan synagogue and Virginia university.
The testimony before the House and Senate intelligence committees is
expected to center on the war and in particular the revelation that
outdated intelligence likely led to the U.S. firing a missile that hit
an elementary school in Iran and killed over 165 people. The outdated
targeting data was reported to have come from the Defense Intelligence
Agency, whose director, Lt. Gen. James H. Adams, is among those set to
testify. The White House says the strike is still under investigation.
The hearings, which begin Wednesday in the Senate and continue Thursday
in the House, are also likely to delve into internal administration
debate over the war given the resignation this week of Joe Kent as
director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Kent said Tuesday that
he could not “in good conscience” back the Trump administration's war
and that he did not agree that Iran posed an imminent threat to the U.S.
Hours later, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whose
office oversaw Kent’s work and who is expected at the hearings this
week, wrote in a carefully worded social media post that it was up to
Trump to decide whether Iran posed a threat. She did not mention her own
views of the strikes.
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Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe may also be questioned over
recent intelligence assessments about Iran, including one that
showed U.S. strikes are unlikely to result in a regime change in
Tehran, and another that cast doubt on claims Iran was preparing to
strike first.
The hearings are also likely to focus on Kash Patel's leadership of
the FBI. It will be his first public appearance on Capitol Hill
since video surfaced last month showing him partying with members of
the U.S. men's hockey team following their gold medal win at the
Winter Olympics.
He has fired dozens of agents in his first year on the job, raising
concerns about an exodus of national security experience at a time
when the U.S. is confronting an elevated terrorism threat.
This month alone, a gunman wearing clothes with an Iranian flag
design and the words “Property of Allah” killed two people at a
Texas bar; two men who authorities say were inspired by the Islamic
State were arrested on charges of bringing homemade powerful
explosives to a protest outside the New York City mayoral mansion; a
man with a past terrorism conviction opened fire inside an Old
Dominion University classroom in Virginia; and a Lebanese-born man
in Michigan drove his car into a synagogue.
The FBI has said that it is working around the clock to protect the
country.
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