WASHINGTON (TNND) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing a new round of bipartisan questioning on Tuesday over the war with Iran, as lawmakers raise concerns about the conflict’s duration and its lack of congressional approval.
House and Senate subcommittees are holding back-to-back hearings reviewing the Trump administration’s historic $1.5 trillion military budget proposal for 2027, as lawmakers also scrutinize a war that has already cost an estimated $25 billion.
The House subcommittee opened its 8 a.m. hearing with pointed questions about how the war is affecting funding priorities and U.S. weapons stockpiles.
“Questions persist about whether we are building the depth and resilience required for a high-end conflict,” said Chairman Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.
“The world has grown more dangerous, more complex, and more interconnected in its risks,” Calvert added, pointing to China’s rapid military expansion, Russia’s ongoing war, and continued threats from Iran and its proxies.
Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., the panel’s ranking member, pressed for more transparency on the cost of the conflict.
“We’ve asked several times for a complete update on munitions levels, and it has not been provided,” she said.
In his opening statement, Hegseth defended the budget as a response to those growing threats, calling it a “war-fighting budget” and saying the administration is working to put the defense industrial base “on a wartime footing.”
He also said the $1.5 trillion request includes a large troop pay increase and “eliminates all poor or failing barracks” while investing heavily in projects championed by President Donald Trump such as the Golden Dome and Golden Fleet.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed the urgency, warning lawmakers the U.S. is operating in a “delicate and dangerous time” and stressing that sustained investment is critical to maintaining readiness amid a high operational tempo.
Trump is also facing mounting pressure from economic fallout after Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a vital shipping corridor that typically carries about 20% of the world’s oil supply. In response, the U.S. military has blockaded Iranian ports, and the two sides have exchanged fire, with American forces intercepting attacks on warships and disabling Tehran-linked oil tankers.
He said Monday that the ceasefire is “on life support” after sharply criticizing Iran’s latest proposal.
“I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support — where the doctor walks in and says, ‘Sir, your loved one has approximately a one percent chance of living,’” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump added that suspending the federal gas tax is under consideration as prices surge, though he has previously argued that higher costs are justified to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
During earlier hearings, Hegseth said the ceasefire paused a 60-day deadline for congressional authorization under the 1973 War Powers Act. The U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, and a fragile truce took effect on April 8.
_____
Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.