Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 21, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate committee responsible for financing the government spent hours in the hearing room Tuesday trying to determine how much additional spending lawmakers should provide for the military amid the ongoing war in Iran.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators that the bombing of Iran cost $37.5 billion. He said that while the department had about $75 billion in non-mandatory funds under the Republicans’ “big, beautiful” law, that money was not intended to cover war costs.
Republicans and Democrats on the Appropriations Committee also heard from three of their colleagues about the need for disaster relief funding and from the Secretary of Agriculture about her request for emergency aid for farmers.
Speaker Susan Collins, R-Maine, summed up the multitude of proposals for additional money by saying that “the country has many urgent financial needs.”
Collins said that while there were widely differing views on the war among senators on the panel, “the fact remains that the department faces mandatory bills and urgent requirements that impact the ability of our troops to be well trained and, more broadly, the ability of the U.S. military to deter and defend against would-be aggressors around the world.”
Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, the committee’s ranking member, said at the beginning of the meeting three and a half hours of interrogation The United States is “no better off or safer than before the war.”
“The reality is that we are much less secure. Our supplies are depleted and it will take years of production to fully replenish them, no matter how much money is thrown at the problem,” Murray said.
At the end of the hearing, she indicated that Democrats could not support any emergency funding for the Department of Defense related to the Iran war.
“Unfortunately, this hearing did remarkably little to substantiate the president’s request or create confidence that the administration has an exit plan or strategy to end the war,” Murray said. “This war has cost us a lot. The last thing we should be doing is stamping another $70 billion to help Trump stay afloat.”
Hegseth warns of ‘critical shortcomings’
Hegseth said that without additional money from Congress, the department “would face critical shortfalls that threaten” its ability to “pay our services, quickly replenish equipment and ammunition, and maintain critical operations without disruption.”
Hegseth repeatedly defended the Iran war during the hearings, countering criticism from several Democrats that it was similar to previous wars in the Middle East.
“President Trump said we wouldn’t fight stupid wars like this anymore, and we didn’t,” Hegseth said. “That’s why we weren’t trying to rebuild Iranian society, but just on the realist principle of America First, let’s make sure they never have a path to a nuclear bomb, period.”
He declined openly to go into detail about the aid China and Russia have provided to Iran, but said the two countries “enable some of the things Iran is doing.”
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John D. Caine, said he preferred not to discuss intelligence about the two countries.
“I would prefer not to comment on the details because it would reveal what we know. And I don’t want the opponent to know what I know. I just want to know,” he said.
Caine also declined to provide any details on whether the administration was considering sending ground troops to Iran.
“I think it would be unhelpful to give opinions on hypothetical situations regarding decisions that the president may or may not make in the future,” Caine said.
Trump’s request to Congress
In February, Congress approved $838.7 billion for the Department of Defense through the annual government funding process. A few weeks later, President Donald Trump started bombing Iran, starting a war that led to the deaths of 17 American soldiers – including three in the last few days — and more than 445 people were injured.
Administration sent a request for additional expenses to Congress in slow June, asking lawmakers to provide $87.6 billion in emergency funds. He additionally proposed:
- $67.15 billion for the Department of Defense
- $11.1 billion for the Department of Agriculture to facilitate farmers
- $3.36 billion for the Department of State for diplomatic, security and global health programs
- $2.03 billion for the U.S. Coast Guard
- $1 billion for the Department of Transportation to “assist in the final design and construction of a modernized New York Penn Station”
- $1 billion for the Department of Labor to “increase the level of benefits for participants in certain retirement plans sponsored by Delphi Corporation and terminated in the bankruptcy of General Motors in 2009.”
- $767.5 million for the Department of Energy
- $600 million for the General Services Administration federal buildings fund
- $500 million for the National Park Service to modernize the seawall and improve the World War II memorial
- $40.26 million to FBI for its role in Iran war and ‘other secret needs’
- $36.18 million for the Treasury Department’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
- $13.1 million for the Department of Homeland Security’s operating and support account, which was part of a “secret request.”
Republicans in the House of Representatives you want to utilize a convoluted budget reconciliation process to provide up to $60 billion to the Department of Defense and $12 billion in farm aid.
But those efforts have yet to gain the support needed from Senate Republicans to advance. GOP lawmakers used the same process last year to augment defense funding by about $150 billion in a “big, beautiful” bill.
This means the most likely path to providing additional money for the war and farmers will be a bipartisan additional spending bill, likely written by the appropriations committees.
With the House scheduled to leave the House on Thursday for its August recess and the Senate scheduled to leave for recess on Aug. 6, the additional funding would not become law until September at the earliest.
Agricultural aid
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the administration’s request for emergency funding will facilitate farmers, including those who have experienced extreme weather events.
Collins, however, questions the administration’s decision to limit the request for additional funds to agricultural losses that occurred over the past year.
“Many of our producers are struggling due to a combination of market volatility and natural disasters last year, which included excessive spring rainfall followed by severe drought. They need help. However, the administration’s supplemental request does not include funding to cover these recovery needs,” Collins said. “It has $1.1 billion to help Florida agricultural producers bounce back from last winter’s severe freeze. But nothing for previous disasters that occurred in other states.”
Rollins said she would fully support Congress providing farmers affected by severe weather with more funding than requested.
Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley asked Rollins to ensure the Office of Management and Budget sends a specific request to lawmakers to address ongoing wildfire costs.
“Senators are asking OMB for the number so they can continue the matter,” he said. “And as we look at wildfires right now, my home state is at the highest risk epicenter in the country.”
Rollins said she would “without a doubt” share that number with lawmakers, adding that it “is of the utmost importance, especially in the middle of fire season.”
