Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are set to appear Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee to defend the Trump administration’s strategy for the Iran war and to ask for more money to fund it.
The Pentagon is seeking about $80 billion to cover the costs of the conflict and replenish depleted weapons stocks.
Mr. Hegseth and General Caine have not publicly talked about the conflict in depth since their last news conference in early May. At the time, Iranian leaders and the Trump administration had reached a cease-fire intended to pave the way for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and setting the terms for talks over Iran’s nuclear program.
On July 8, President Trump declared that cease-fire over, and hostilities have resumed with real costs to American soldiers. Late last week an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan killed two U.S. soldiers and left another soldier missing. The strike was the fourth in five days on U.S. troops in Jordan.
The flurry of attacks and the losses they have caused are a sign that Iranian forces not only still have ample missile stocks but have also become more adept at evading U.S. air defense systems, U.S. officials have said.
The attacks also injured dozens of U.S. service members and damaged several helicopters — losses the Pentagon was slow to disclose.
Mr. Hegseth and General Caine are expected to be asked about the recent attacks and the strategy behind the military’s resumption of strikes in Iran.
“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!” Mr. Trump wrote Monday on social media. “This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military.”
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump told reporters that the U.S. military would soon be hitting Pickaxe Mountain, home to an underground Iranian nuclear site that experts say has been under construction since 2020. Mr. Trump has also suggested that he would order the military to expand strikes on Iranian bridges and electrical infrastructure.
A big question likely to be raised by Democratic lawmakers is whether such strikes constitute war crimes.
The biggest challenge for Mr. Hegseth and General Caine will be explaining their plan for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The strait’s recent closure by Iran has sent gas prices soaring again, and there’s little sign that the U.S. military can reopen the critical shipping choke point without committing ground troops, a risk that Mr. Trump for now seems unwilling to take.
In past unpopular wars, like Iraq and Afghanistan, Republicans and Democrats have been unwilling to cut off funds for fear of leaving U.S. troops vulnerable. It remains to be seen if lawmakers take such a step with Iran.
The post Hegseth and Caine Will Appear Before Senators to Seek More Money for Iran War appeared first on New York Times.
