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Defense Secretary\u00a0Pete Hegseth\u00a0said Tuesday the\u00a0U.S. war against Iran\u00a0has cost $37.5 billion, so far, as he is facing questions and protests at a Senate hearing ahead of a\u00a0$95 billion GOP budget package\u00a0to fund the military, along with aid to farmers and voting law changes that are top White House priorities.<\/p>\n
Hegseth provided the new estimate, up from earlier accounts, during testmnony before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Several times, protesters interrupted Hegseth\u2019s opening remarks, which come days after the Pentagon announced that three more\u00a0American service members\u00a0have died in the conflict, bringing the\u00a0death toll to 17, and that more than 100 have been injured since early July.<\/p>\n
Hegseth said the supplemental war funding is an \u201curgent, necessary\u201d injection of funds, and with\u00a0President Donald Trump\u2019s\u00a0proposed\u00a0$1.5 trillion defense budget\u00a0a generational investment in the military.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout these funds, we face critical shortfalls,\u201d Hegseth testified.<\/p>\n
But Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the panel, in her own opening remarks warned of \u201canother forever war.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis war is now spiraling out of control again,\u201d Murray said.<\/p>\n
Trump \u201chas told us over 40 times now that a deal is near, and the war will be over soon,\u201d she said. \u201cBut now, he\u2019s asking for $70 billion more \u2014 and for us to just trust him it\u2019ll all work out fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins are also testifying before the panel.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the hearing, the White House issued a statement of administration policy urging support of the budget resolution \u201cwithout modification\u2014immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
War funding makes up the bulk of the GOP\u2019s new budget proposal, one last priority package the Republicans hope to launch before lawmakers recess to campaign for the\u00a0midterm elections\u00a0that will determine control of Congress. It also includes $10 billion in aid for famers struggling under Trump\u2019s tariffs and $10 billion for voter law changes that are likely to include new ID requirements, none of it paid for with offsets.<\/p>\n
Most Americans continue to disapprove of how Trump is handling Iran,\u00a0according to an AP-NORC poll.\u00a0Gas prices have spiked as Iran works to control oil shipments through the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz, U.S. munitions are running low amid the onslaught of American missile strikes and Trump has shifted away from his own campaign promise not to draw the U.S. into prolonged military conflicts.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Trump has showed no signs of backing off the war, and the Republicans have largely refused to confront his strategy, question his objectives or use Congress\u2019 power of the purse or war powers authority to halt the conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe commander in chief and the whole Department of War are working very hard to bring this to a resolution,\u201d said House\u00a0Speaker Mike Johnson\u00a0at his weekly press conference Tuesday. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of questions about how that will be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump, in a social media post at the start of the week, asked all House Republicans to vote for the budget resolution.<\/p>\n
Hegseth is appearing before the panel facing a torrent of questions about not only the war, but his own leadership of the department.<\/p>\n
Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the committee, opened the hearing saying it\u2019s \u201cdeeply troubling\u201d that the Pentagon has blocked or denied promotions to various officers, particularly women and minorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is likely to discourage well-qualified women and individuals of color from joining our armed forces, thus depriving us of their talent, dedication and patriotism,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Hegseth has been busy promoting his plan for\u00a0testosterone screenings\u00a0for the troops rather than publicly disclosing the latest service member injuries in the war with Iran. Nearly 450 have been injured since the start of the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the biggest questions Pete Hegseth has to answer today is why he was out marketing testosterone supplements for our troops last week while withholding casualty numbers in the Iran War from the American people,\u201d Schumer said.<\/p>\n
Senators have pressed the defense secretary to release the Pentagon\u2019s report on the deadly attack on an\u00a0Iran primary school\u00a0at the start of the war and\u00a0threatened to withhold his own travel budget\u00a0unless he complies.<\/p>\n
This week, the Senate will consider another\u00a0war powers resolution, having voted nearly a dozen times to try to halt the conflict. The House has approved a war powers resolution limiting Trump\u2019s ability to wage war, with a few Republicans joining the Democrats to pass the measure, but no resolution has cleared both chambers to be sent to the president\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n
The GOP budget proposal is expected to flow through the reconciliation process, which enables the majority to approve the plan on its own, over the objections of Democrats in the minority.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the same lengthy process Republicans used to approve Trump\u2019s big tax cuts bill last summer, as well as Homeland Security funds earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The proposal is headed toward a House vote this week, which would start the process by instructing various committees to begin drafting the legislation. Johnson can afford only a few defectors from his slim majority.<\/p>\n
So far one Republican, Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, has objected to the budget plan, warning it will pile onto deficits because the new funding is not being offset with spending reductions elsewhere. Other conservative Republicans share those concerns.<\/p>\n
GOP senators have so far panned the House budget plan, but are waiting to see if Johnson can kickstart the process with this week\u2019s voting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Hegseth #questioned #senators #billion #Iran #war #price #tag<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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