The Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing Tuesday on military funding needs tied to the ongoing conflict in Iran, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth laid out steep costs and warned of critical shortfalls without additional congressional action.

Hegseth told lawmakers the Iran bombing campaign has cost $37.5 billion so far. While the Department of Defense holds $75 billion in unobligated funds from prior appropriations, Hegseth said those reserves were not intended to cover war expenses and that depleting them would leave the military unable to meet critical needs.

Without supplemental funding, Hegseth cautioned, the department would face shortfalls affecting service member pay, equipment replenishment, and ongoing operations. The Trump administration requested $87.6 billion in emergency supplemental funding in late June.

The Trump administration defended its Iran strategy as focused and limited in scope. “President Trump said we’re not fighting stupid wars like that again and he hasn’t,” Hegseth told the committee. “That’s why we haven’t been trying to remake Iranian society, but simply in the realist America First way, ensure they never have a path to a nuclear bomb, full stop.”

General John D. Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, declined to provide details on China and Russia military aid flowing to Iran or answer questions about the possibility of deploying ground forces to the region.

The conflict has taken a toll on American forces. Seventeen service members have been killed in the Iran war, with more than 445 injured.

Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, acknowledged that the nation faces multiple urgent funding pressures simultaneously. The committee also heard testimony from three senators on disaster recovery needs and from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requesting emergency farm aid.

Democratic opposition emerged during the hearing. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the ranking committee member, said the U.S. “is no safer or better off than before the war” and questioned whether the administration has a coherent exit strategy. “Unfortunately, this hearing has done exceptionally little to justify the president’s request or to instill confidence that this administration has an exit plan or a strategy to end the war,” Murray stated.

House Republicans are pursuing a different path to fund the military request. They are seeking $60 billion for the Defense Department and $12 billion for farm aid through budget reconciliation, a legislative process that bypasses the normal appropriations route. Republicans used reconciliation last year to increase defense funding by $150 billion.

The timing adds pressure to the process. The House begins its recess Thursday; the Senate recess starts August 6. The earliest additional funding could become law is September, leaving a gap in the fiscal calendar.

The supplemental request also includes $1.1 billion for Florida agricultural freeze recovery. Collins pressed the administration on limiting farm supplemental funding to losses from the past year, while Agriculture Secretary Rollins indicated support for Congress providing more than the administration requested for weather-affected farmers.

Congress approved $838.7 billion for the Defense Department in February. President Trump began bombing Iran weeks after that funding was enacted.