Hegseth Estimates Iran War Has Cost $37.5B So Far
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the Trump administration’s request for billions of dollars in additional military funding Tuesday as lawmakers questioned the rising cost of the war with Iran, while protesters repeatedly disrupted a tense Senate hearing.
Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hegseth disclosed that the conflict has now cost an estimated $37.5 billion, a figure that exceeds previous estimates. The contentious hearing came just days after the Pentagon announced that three more American service members had died, raising the U.S. death toll in the conflict to 17, with more than 100 others wounded since early July.
Hegseth argued that the administration’s request for supplemental war funding is critical to sustaining military operations and said it complements President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget, which he described as a long-term investment in America’s armed forces.
“Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls,” Hegseth testified.
Democrats sharply criticized the request, with Sen. Patty Murray of Washington warning that the United States risks becoming trapped in another prolonged overseas conflict.
“This war is now spiraling out of control again,” Murray said in her opening remarks.
She also questioned the administration’s repeated assurances that diplomacy was within reach.
Trump “has told us over 40 times now that a deal is near, and the war will be over soon,” she said. “But now, he’s asking for $70 billion more — and for us to just trust him it’ll all work out fine.”
Also appearing before the committee were Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. In addition to military spending, the proposed Republican budget package includes $10 billion for agricultural assistance and another $10 billion for election-related legislation.
Ahead of the hearing, the White House urged Congress to pass the budget package immediately and without changes.
The proposed supplemental funding represents the largest component of a broader $95 billion Republican budget package that GOP leaders hope to advance before lawmakers leave Washington to campaign for the upcoming midterm elections. Along with military spending, the legislation would provide aid to farmers affected by Trump’s tariffs and finance election law changes expected to include stricter voter identification requirements. None of the new spending would be offset by corresponding budget cuts.
The funding debate comes as public opinion remains divided over the administration’s handling of the war. Recent polling has shown continued disapproval of Trump’s Iran strategy, while the conflict has driven higher gasoline prices, strained U.S. weapons stockpiles through sustained missile strikes, and marked a departure from Trump’s campaign pledge to avoid lengthy military engagements.
Despite those concerns, Trump has shown no indication that he intends to scale back military operations, and congressional Republicans have largely stood behind the administration without attempting to limit its strategy through funding restrictions or congressional war powers.
“The commander in chief and the whole Department of War are working very hard to bring this to a resolution,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said during his weekly news conference. “There’s a lot of questions about how that will be done.”
Earlier this week, Trump also urged House Republicans in a social media post to support the budget resolution.
In addition to defending the administration’s war strategy, Hegseth faced pointed questioning over his leadership of the Pentagon.
Committee Chair Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, expressed concern over reports that promotions for certain military officers, particularly women and minorities, had been delayed or denied.
“This is likely to discourage well-qualified women and individuals of color from joining our armed forces, thus depriving us of their talent, dedication and patriotism,” Collins said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Hegseth of focusing on promoting testosterone screening initiatives for service members instead of publicly disclosing the growing number of casualties from the war. Schumer noted that nearly 450 U.S. troops have been injured since the conflict began.
“One of the biggest questions Pete Hegseth has to answer today is why he was out marketing testosterone supplements for our troops last week while withholding casualty numbers in the Iran war from the American people,” Schumer said.
Lawmakers have also continued pressing Hegseth to release the Pentagon’s report examining the deadly strike on an Iranian primary school early in the conflict. Some senators have warned they may block funding for his official travel unless the report is made public.
Congress is expected to revisit the issue of presidential war powers later this week with another resolution aimed at limiting the administration’s authority to continue military operations against Iran. While the House has already approved a measure restricting Trump’s war powers—with support from Democrats and a small number of Republicans—the legislation has yet to pass both chambers.
Republican leaders intend to advance the budget package through the reconciliation process, allowing it to pass with only Republican votes and bypass Democratic opposition.
The proposal follows the same legislative strategy Republicans previously used to approve Trump’s tax cuts last year and additional Homeland Security funding earlier this year.
House leaders plan to hold an initial vote this week directing committees to draft the legislation. With Republicans holding only a narrow majority, Speaker Johnson can afford to lose very few votes.
Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio has emerged as the first Republican to publicly oppose the proposal, arguing that adding billions in new spending without corresponding reductions elsewhere would further increase the federal deficit. Other fiscal conservatives have voiced similar reservations.
Meanwhile, several Republican senators have expressed skepticism about the House proposal but are waiting to see whether Johnson can successfully move the package forward before deciding how to proceed in the Senate.
{Matzav.com}
