The war has cost $25 billion so far, the chief financial official for the Pentagon told lawmakers. Jules Hurst III, the acting undersecretary of war for finances, said most of that money was spent on munitions. The military has also spent money on running the operations and replacing equipment.
Hegseth dismissed criticism of the war as political and said lawmakers who have raised questions about it are one of the greatest challenges facing the U.S. military.
“The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,” Hegseth said.
In one tense exchange, Hegseth told Democratic Rep. Adam Smith that Iran’s nuclear facilities were obliterated in a 2025 attack by the U.S., prompting Smith to question the Trump administration’s reasoning for starting the Iran war less than a year later.
“We had to start this war, you just said 60 days ago, because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat,” said Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. “Now you’re saying that it was completely obliterated?”
Hegseth responded by saying that Iran “had not given up their nuclear ambitions” and still had thousands of missiles.
Democrats accused Hegseth of mismanaging the war and lying to Americans about the reasons for the conflict and said rising gas prices are now threatening the pocketbooks of millions of people in the U.S.
“Secretary Hegseth, you have been lying to the American public about this war from day one and so has the president,” said Rep. John Garamendi of California, who called the war “a geopolitical calamity," a “strategic blunder" and a ”self-inflicted wound to America."
Hegseth blasted Garamandi's remarks.
“Who are you cheering for here?” he asked the lawmaker. ”Your hatred for President Trump blinds you” to the success of the war.
