The Iran war has cost $37.5 billion so far, Hegseth said.

The war with Iran has cost the US $37.5bn (£28bn) so far – up nearly $8bn since the last estimate in May, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

Appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee for the first time since the conflict flared up, Hegseth said military training would need to be scaled back without urgent funding.

He said he is seeking $87 billion in congressional funding for the department, with $67 billion earmarked for Middle East operations.

The hearing was interrupted several times by anti-war protesters, some of whom chanted, “Stop bombing Iran and our Palestinian children.”

Hughes’ appearance before the committee comes at a critical moment in the war in the Middle East, after three US soldiers were killed.

The White House asked Congress in April to give the Pentagon $1.5tn in the next fiscal year, raising US military spending to the highest level in modern times.

Iran retaliated with its own attacks on America and its allies in the Middle East, following the 10th consecutive day of US strikes on Monday.

“We live in a dangerous world,” the defense secretary began Tuesday’s testimony, calling for bold and swift action.

After being interrupted by the opposition, Hegseth said the request for funding was urgent because “we must prepare for war” to keep the peace.

Critical investments must be made to prevent adversaries from outgrowing the United States, he continued.

“Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls that affect our ability to easily pay our service members, quickly replenish equipment and ammunition, and continue critical operations without disruption,” Hegseth said.

He added that every dollar allocated would be used to build the “lethality” of US military forces and “strengthen peace”.

Susan Collins, a Republican who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, asked Hegseth what would happen if budget demands were not met.

He repeatedly blamed the Biden administration for the lack of funds for the military and said that current and future training for military personnel should be limited without funds.

Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the committee, pushed back on the funding request, saying it “doesn’t make a lot of sense,” accusing the Trump administration of trying to “undercut the normal process of cuts.”

Asked by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin how much the war in Iran has cost so far, Hegseth put the figure at $37.5 billion.

If approved, they argued, the money would be a “generational investment” that would help the United States eliminate “playfulness” and keep the U.S. military ahead of others.

There has been no official government estimate of the war’s financial cost since May 12, when a senior Pentagon official put the figure at $29 billion.

The Pentagon previously told lawmakers that the war cost $11.3 billion in its first week.

Iran and the U.S. held a brief ceasefire, but fighting has continued and the U.S. launched a new round of strikes last week.

In Tuesday’s hearing, New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand accused the Trump administration of seeking “unlimited money for the bomb” from Congress, while American citizens cannot “feed their families.”

She asks why Hughes is asking for tens of billions of dollars for a war the president claims to have won.

Hughes shot back, saying the administration did not want “unlimited bombs.”

“I ask for the right bombs at the right time,” he added.

Hughes is asking for another $87 billion for the department, including $67 billion for operations in the Middle East.

Most Democrats oppose the request for more funding, and there is discontent among Republicans as well.

Some fiscal hawks in the Republican Party are looking for spending cuts elsewhere to offset the budget.

Either way, the House of Representatives leaves town on Thursday and the two houses of Congress won’t be back in session until September.

Even if Republicans manage to muster the votes, it will be two months before the Pentagon gets the money.

The Pentagon on Tuesday announced the death of Sgt Michael Emmanuel Swinton, a 30-year-old active duty soldier who was supporting operations overseas in Iraq.

A day earlier, the military identified two U.S. service members killed in action in Jordan as PFC Isabella Gonzales, 19, and 1st Lt. Tyler Feehan, 25.

During the hearing, Trump – absent – posted a list of US wars on social media, including how long it took to end and how many US soldiers died. In the year He wrote that 18 people have died in the US war with Iran that began on February 28.