Hegseth appeared before House and Senate appropriations defense subcommittees Tuesday as lawmakers reviewed the Trump administration’s 2027 military budget proposal and pressed for details on the conflict’s end game. The questioning, which stretched for about four hours, focused on what lawmakers described as rising costs, possible strain on U.S. weapons stockpiles, and the political and economic consequences of a war that has been drawing bipartisan criticism.
Pentagon officials told lawmakers that the Iran war has risen to about $29 billion, according to the hearing record described by the Associated Press. Roughly $24 billion of that total was described as related to replacing munitions and repairing equipment, and the remainder was described as including operational costs to keep forces deployed. The AP report said the figure is up from an earlier estimate of $25 billion, and that the updated estimate does not include the cost to repair or rebuild U.S. military sites damaged in the region.
Hegseth faced questions about whether U.S. munitions are being depleted by the pace of the conflict. In response to lawmakers’ concerns raised in public, he said, “I take issue with the characterization that munitions are depleted in a public forum,” adding, “That’s not true.” He told lawmakers the administration is seeking to increase weapons production, while asserting that the department has missile defense systems and other munitions for the war or future conflicts.
As the hearings progressed, the scrutiny came not only from Democrats but also from Republicans. The AP report said Hegseth softened his tone from earlier hearings before Congress nearly two weeks earlier, when he had notably avoided the pointed criticism of lawmakers seen in the latest session. In the Tuesday grilling, Republicans pushed Hegseth on stockpile levels and on President Donald Trump’s intense criticism of allies for not doing more in the conflict.
McConnell, chair of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense, told Hegseth that NATO was central to U.S. defense posture, saying, “NATO is the most important military alliance in world history.” Another Republican in the House, Tom Cole, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, challenged the administration’s approach, saying, “America First has never meant American alone,” and later adding, “American power is most effective when it’s exercised in concert with like-minded nations who share our interests and our values.”
Lawmakers also pressed the administration on readiness for a broader “high-end conflict,” with California Republican Rep. Ken Calvert asking about whether U.S. forces are building depth and reliance needed for such a fight. The AP report said Minnesota Rep. Betty McCollum, the ranking Democrat on the defense subcommittee, asked Hegseth whether the military has a plan to draw down troops in the Middle East if Congress advances efforts to end the Iran war that have so far been unsuccessful. Hegseth said, “We have a plan to escalate if necessary,” and also said, “We have a plan to retrograde if necessary,” adding, “We have a plan to shift assets,” while declining to reveal next steps publicly.
Democrats and some Republicans also tied the hearing questions to economic pressures from the conflict, including rising fuel prices. The AP report described increasing pressure on the Trump administration as Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping corridor where about 20% of the world’s oil normally flows, and said U.S. forces have blockaded Iranian ports as both sides traded fire. Republicans raised concerns about fuel prices becoming a political issue for GOP candidates in upcoming midterm elections, and Democrats asked for more cost breakdowns, including repairs to military installations and fuel-related impacts.
Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned whether the Trump administration anticipated Iran’s closure of the strait. The AP report also said Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers the president receives carefully considered military options, while Collins said, “It seems to me that there’s been a different plan almost daily of, with dealing with this problem, which is why I ask.” Democrats, including Sen. Patty Murray, pressed Hegseth on what they said was a lack of detailed disclosure about costs and on the effect at the pump.
Murray said in the hearing that, “You’re spending families’ hard-earned tax dollars on a war that many strongly oppose, and you’re forcing people to pay more at the pump,” adding that the administration was “not even providing a real breakdown for the cost of this war.” Hegseth replied rhetorically, “What is the cost of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon?” and said the president had made “a historic and courageous choice to confront that,” with “cost,” according to the AP account.
In a tense exchange, Coons asked how the administration would reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping. The AP report said Hegseth responded defensively, arguing Coons was being disingenuous and ignoring what he described as “incredible battlefield successes.” Coons shot back that he was worried the administration had achieved “a series of tactical successes” but was “on the verge of a strategic loss,” as lawmakers continued pressing for an approach that would address both military and economic outcomes of the Iran war.