US war spending in Iran has reached $37.5 billion so far, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth revealed on Tuesday during his first appearance before congressional lawmakers since a fresh wave of heavy bombings targeted Iran. The Pentagon chief testified on Capitol Hill primarily to request emergency supplemental funding to sustain the increasingly unpopular conflict.
The testimony comes just months before the high-stakes US midterm elections, where President Donald Trump’s Republican Party faces a steep battle to maintain its narrow majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Meanwhile, Democrats, who currently hold an advantage in public opinion polls,
Last month, President Trump requested nearly $90 billion in emergency supplemental funding from Congress, with the vast majority earmarked for operations in the Iran conflict. Growing lawmaker frustration over the war, coupled with the looming elections, has set the stage for a sharp battle between the Trump administration and Congress over approving the funds.
On February 28, joint US-Israeli strikes initiated the air campaign in Iran. Since then, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have repeatedly accused the Trump administration of keeping them in the dark regarding overall strategy and future plans.
During the hearing, Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, expressed sharp criticism:
“The President continues to escalate this conflict and threaten strikes on civilian infrastructure. Listening to him, it sounds as though he is dragging the United States into yet another ‘endless war.'”
Critics warned that executing threats against civilian infrastructure in Iran could constitute war crimes under international law.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand directly confronted the Defense Secretary over mixed messaging from the executive branch:
“Do you know why the public is so furious with you and this administration? Because what you say never aligns with what you do. One day you claim the war is over, and the next you say it isn’t. You say it will take two weeks, and then you backtrack. You say missile strikes are coming, and then they don’t. This inconsistency has destroyed public trust.”
Given the Republicans’ razor-thin majority in both chambers of Congress, the Trump administration cannot pass the spending bill without securing votes from Democrats.
Despite fierce pushback from lawmakers, Hegseth urged swift approval of the emergency funds. He also pressed Congress to pass the Pentagon’s baseline defense budget proposal of $1.5 trillion for FY27.
Addressing the committee, Hegseth argued:
“I truly believe that failing to provide this department with $1.5 trillion in funding represents the single greatest threat to our nation’s security today.”
Following the collapse of a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran earlier this month, both sides have resumed routine exchange of strikes, driving geopolitics in the Middle East into deeper uncertainty.
