Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that the U.S. war with Iran has cost roughly $37.5 billion so far, even as the Pentagon pressed lawmakers to approve tens of billions of dollars more to sustain a conflict that has now killed 17 American service members. The figure, delivered under questioning at a hearing repeatedly interrupted by protesters, marked an increase from the last official estimate and drew immediate criticism from Democrats on the committee.
According to Northeast Times, Hegseth’s $37.5 billion estimate is up nearly $8 billion from the $29 billion a senior Pentagon official cited on May 12, and a steep climb from the roughly $11 billion the department said the war had cost in its first week. Hegseth offered the updated number in response to questions from Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin. He is defending a supplemental request of about $67 billion for the Pentagon, which the administration says is needed to cover munitions, operations and classified programs, as CBS News reported.
Hegseth defended the request as an “urgent, necessary” injection of funds that, combined with President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget, would amount to what he called a generational investment in the military. “Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls,” he testified. MPR News, carrying the AP account, described a session that grew heated almost as soon as it began.
A combative hearing
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the panel’s top Democrat, warned that the country was drifting into “another forever war” and said the conflict “is now spiraling out of control again.” She noted that Trump has repeatedly said a deal was near and the war would soon end, yet the administration was now seeking roughly $70 billion more. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York accused officials of demanding “unlimited money for bombs” while ordinary Americans struggle to feed their families, and pressed Hegseth on whether U.S. strikes had actually destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
“We’re staying laser-focused on the objective,” Hegseth responded, “and you’re trying to make campaign commercials.” Another exchange came near the end, when Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan called the war strategy a “failure” and told the secretary, “You, sir, are the failure.” Hegseth accused Peters of having “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and shot back, “Shame on you and others who call this a quagmire and a failure.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, a Democrat, questioned why the department needed more money when it had not yet spent roughly half of the $150 billion Republicans provided in last year’s budget bill; Hegseth said the remaining funds would be spent by September. Chair Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican who has broken with Trump on war powers, opened the hearing by calling it “deeply troubling” that the Pentagon has blocked or denied promotions for some officers, particularly women and minorities. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined to say how much more the war would ultimately cost. “I can’t answer the question on what it will cost, because the enemy has a vote,” Caine said.
Rising casualties and a collapsed ceasefire
The hearing followed a period of rising U.S. casualties. The Pentagon announced over the weekend that two service members were killed in Jordan while defending against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks, and a third died in a separate incident, bringing the death toll to 17 since the war began on Feb. 28, according to the Associated Press. Nearly 100 American troops have been injured in strikes on bases this month, CBS News reported. The AP noted that the deaths underscore the lethal risks of a conflict fought largely in the air, with U.S. personnel spread across the region even without a ground invasion.
The fighting intensified after a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran collapsed, prompting the U.S. to carry out its 10th consecutive night of strikes on Iranian military infrastructure. Iranian authorities have said at least 50 people were killed and more than 500 wounded in U.S. strikes over the preceding three weeks. Most Americans continue to disapprove of Trump’s handling of Iran, according to an AP-NORC poll.
A $95 billion package moves through the House
The funding fight extends beyond the supplemental request. House Republicans have assembled a $95 billion budget package that directs $60 billion to the war, $13 billion to other national security needs, $12 billion to farm aid for producers hurt by Trump’s tariffs and $10 billion to voting law changes, with none of it offset by spending cuts. A day after the hearing, the House adopted the plan on a 216-214 vote, with every Democrat opposed and several fiscal conservatives wary of the added debt, PBS NewsHour reported, citing the AP.
Republicans are pursuing the money through the reconciliation process, which allows the majority to bypass a filibuster, but the effort faces an uncertain path in the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune has been noncommittal and GOP senators including Collins and Lisa Murkowski have voiced doubts. The Senate is also expected to take up another war powers resolution this week, part of a long series of votes aimed at constraining Trump’s ability to wage the war. Congress has neither halted the strikes nor formally authorized the use of force.
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