Washington, D.C.: US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers that the ongoing military campaign against Iran has cost the United States $37.5 billion, as he urged Congress to approve President Donald Trump’s emergency defence funding request during a tense Senate hearing.
Appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hegseth described the administration’s supplemental funding request as an “urgent, necessary” measure to sustain military operations and replenish Pentagon resources depleted by the conflict.
“The supplemental war funding is an urgent, necessary injection of funds,” Hegseth said, adding that Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defence budget represents “a generational investment in the military.”
He warned that the Pentagon would face critical funding shortfalls without congressional approval.
The defence secretary was advocating for President Trump’s $87.6 billion supplemental request, the majority of which is earmarked for military operations and replenishing defence stockpiles. Republican lawmakers are also advancing a broader $95 billion budget package that combines defence funding with aid for farmers and other White House priorities.
The hearing was repeatedly interrupted by protesters and took place just days after the Pentagon confirmed the deaths of three additional US service members. The latest casualties bring the American military death toll in the conflict to 17, while more than 100 personnel have been injured since fighting escalated in early July.
Democratic lawmakers questioned both the scale of the funding request and the administration’s long-term strategy. Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray warned that the United States risked becoming entangled in another prolonged military conflict.
“This war is now spiraling out of control again,” Murray said.
She also criticised the administration’s repeated assurances that the conflict would soon end, saying, “Trump has told us over 40 times that a deal is near and the war will be over soon. But now he’s asking for $70 billion more and for us to simply trust that everything will work out.”
Joining Hegseth at the hearing were General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
Ahead of the session, the White House called on Congress to approve the budget resolution “without modification—immediately.”
In addition to military spending, the Republican proposal includes $10 billion in assistance for farmers affected by tariffs imposed under the Trump administration and another $10 billion for voting law reforms expected to introduce stricter voter identification requirements.
The funding debate comes amid mixed public sentiment over the conflict. According to an AP-NORC poll, a majority of Americans continue to disapprove of President Trump’s handling of the Iran war. The prolonged fighting has also contributed to rising fuel prices, growing pressure on US military stockpiles, and concerns that the conflict could evolve into a long-term military engagement despite Trump’s earlier campaign promises to avoid such wars.
Hegseth also faced scrutiny over his leadership of the Pentagon. Lawmakers pressed him to release the Pentagon’s report into a deadly strike on an Iranian primary school earlier in the conflict, warning that they could withhold funding for his official travel if the report is not made public.
