Hegseth hearing shows tough fight ahead for Iran war supplemental

▪ Hegseth, Caine push Iran war funding

▪ House passes stopgap spending bill

▪ What’s to blame for wildfire smoke?

▪ Zelensky replaces top commander

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s appearance before lawmakers Tuesday to push for additional funding for the Iran war underscores the difficult road ahead in finding seven Democrats in the Senate to back the proposal.

Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine testified for hours on the need for a $67 billion package to replenish stockpiles that have been used up during the conflict and advance other Trump administration priorities. The duo said training would be the first casualty if lawmakers fail to provide emergency funding, with operations, personnel and future innovation also at risk.

“There is training — training right now and training in the future — that would have to be curtailed if we do not get our budget needs met and met urgently,” Hegseth said.

His push was met with skepticism from Democrats who pressed him on why taxpayers should be providing more money for a war they never wanted. Multiple members pointed to $75 billion in unspent funds that were already allocated to the Pentagon through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year.

“Well, you’ve told this committee that you’ve barely spent half of the $150 billion in reconciliation funding, and if you still have $75 billion available, why are you asking the American people to absorb the cost of a war they don’t support instead of asking for transfer authority for unspent reconciliation funding?” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) asked Hegseth.

Hegseth said the remaining funds have already been set aside for other Trump administration priorities, including the building of a “Golden Dome” missile defense system and increasing the production of hypersonic weapons.

He later told Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) that 95 percent of the remaining $75 billion would be allocated by the end of September.

But that explanation didn’t smooth over Democrats’ concerns. Coons asked why the Defense Department wasn’t prioritizing the immediate needs of U.S. forces with the funds currently available.

The exchanges between Hegseth and Democrats were most heated at the end of the hearing, as Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) challenged him on the status of the war and the plan to win.

Ossoff questioned Hegseth on his past claims, soon after the war started, that the Iranian military had been “destroyed” and made “combat ineffective.” Hegseth said the operation was a “historic military victory” but his past statements didn’t mean Iran’s capabilities had reached “absolute zero.”

The two talked over each other as Ossoff pressed Hegseth again on whether the U.S. had achieved its objectives, given Iran’s continued ability to target American troops across the Middle East — killing at least two U.S. service members in Jordan last week.

Peters also tore into Hegseth, arguing the U.S. is at risk of being pulled into a “forever war.”

“Shame on you and others who call this a quagmire and a failure, and then you want to turn around and say you support the warfighter. Either you do or you don’t,” Hegseth said.

Peters responded that U.S. forces hadn’t been a failure, but had been failed by their leaders.

“You sir are the failure, not the men and women who are on that front line, not the men and women who hold up their honor with distinction, but if there’s a lack of a winning strategy, they’re in harm’s way,” he said.

Republicans sought to tee up Caine to make the case for the spending, asking how a failure to act would hurt those on the frontlines.

Caine repeatedly returned to the phrase, “If not now, then when, and if not us, then who.”

Hegseth, who offered a new $37.5 billion estimate for the price tag of the Iran war, sought to tie together the supplemental request with the Pentagon’s massive $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 budget proposal in arguing for investments that would keep the U.S. on the cutting edge of military innovation.

But there was no sign that Democrats were convinced on either front, putting President Trump in a precarious position as he considers once again intensifying a war he launched almost five months ago.

▪ The Hill: Five takeaways from Hegseth, Caine........

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