US Defense Secretary Defends Iran War Funding Amid Heated Senate Hearing

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the war against Iran has cost $37.5 billion so far as he defended President Donald Trump's funding request during a heated Senate hearing. Hegseth faced protests and sharp questioning ahead of a proposed $95 billion Republican budget package, which includes military funding alongside aid for farmers and voting law changes backed by the White House.

Appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hegseth urged lawmakers to back the administration's emergency defence spending request, saying the additional funding was essential to sustain military operations. "The supplemental war funding is an 'urgent, necessary' injection of funds," Hegseth said, adding that Trump's proposed $1.5 trillion defence budget represented "a generational investment in the military." "Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls," Hegseth testified.

The defence secretary was making the case for President Trump's $87.6 billion supplemental funding request, most of which is intended to replenish Pentagon resources following the US military campaign against Iran. Republicans are also preparing a broader $95 billion package covering defence spending, aid for farmers and other White House priorities.

Hegseth's testimony was interrupted several times by protesters. The hearing came days after the Pentagon announced that three more American service members had died, taking the US military death toll in the conflict to 17, while more than 100 personnel have been injured since early July.

Democrats questioned both the scale of the funding request and the administration's broader strategy. Acccording yo AFP, senate Patty Murray, the committee's top Democrat, warned that the United States risked entering 'another forever war.' "This war is now spiraling out of control again," Murray said. She added, "Trump has told us over 40 times now that a deal is near, and the war will be over soon. But now, he's asking for USD 70 billion more — and for us to just trust him it'll all work out fine."

Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also appeared before the committee. Ahead of the hearing, the White House released a statement urging lawmakers to approve the budget resolution "without modification—immediately."

The proposed Republican package allocates the bulk of its funding to the military campaign. It also includes $10 billion in assistance for farmers affected by Trump's tariffs and $10 billion for voting law changes expected to include stricter voter identification requirements. The funding package comes as public opinion remains divided over the conflict. According to an AP-NORC poll, most Americans continue to disapprove of Trump's handling of the Iran war. The conflict has also coincided with rising fuel prices, pressure on US military stockpiles and growing concerns over a prolonged military engagement despite Trump's earlier campaign pledge to avoid such wars. Trump also urged House Republicans through a social media post earlier this week to support the budget resolution.

Beyond the war funding request, Hegseth also faced scrutiny over his leadership of the Pentagon. Lawmakers further pressed Hegseth to release the Pentagon's report into a deadly strike on an Iranian primary school early in the conflict, warning that they could withhold funding for his official travel if the report is not made public.