Trump live updates: Pentagon updates cost of Iran war to $29 billion as Hegseth testifies on budget – UK Times

Democratic Senator Chris Coons called the Trump administration “distracted” during his opening remarks at the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing.

“I am concerned that we have a distracted administration and a distracted department,” Coons said.

“From your written testimony, Mr. Secretary, it seems at times you’re more passionate about fighting culture wars than winning the real war that we’re in, at banning books, at cleaning alleged DEI off of websites, at taking on an anti-vaccine position rather than continuing the long-standing public health policies, at interfering with promotions,” he added.

Coons also claimed that Trump appears to be “more focused on a billion-dollar ballroom and a victory arch, rather than achieving actual victory.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine are now testifying before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

The hearing kicked off just moments ago with remarks from Senator Mitch McConnell, the committee’s chairman.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are holding a field hearing in Palm Beach County, where members will hear from survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse and witnesses in the panel’s ongoing investigation into the dead sex offender and his alleged ties to a wider network of powerful abusers.

The hearing marks a “new phase of our Epstein investigation,” said top Democrat Robert Garcia.

The hearing in Palm Beach is just “miles away” from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound “and key locations where this Epstein investigation has taken us,” Garcia said.

“Florida has been a key place where so many of the horrors and crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell happened,” he said.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing has ended.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine are now expected to testify before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

Democratic Representative Joseph Morelle said it has been “excruciating” to try and get an answer regarding the cost of the Iran war.

“By my count, 11 weeks, 74 days since hostilities began in Iran, and trying to get a reporting of the dollars that have been spent in this has been excruciating. It’s been long,” Morelle said.

“I think General [George] Washington reported quicker to the Continental Congress than this has been,” he added.

Jules Hurst, the Pentagon’s acting comptroller, told lawmakers the Iran war has cost the U.S. $29 billion so far.

Late last month, the Pentagon said the total cost was an estimated $25 billion.

Hurst attributed the increase to “updated repair and replacement of equipment costs,” along with “general operational costs.”

Democratic Representative Pete Aguilar pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, asking how officials know whether or not it’s active.

“As you know, for the most part, a ceasefire means the fire is ceasing, and we know that has occurred while negotiations occur. And there are lots of different discussions with our negotiating team that are happening,” Hegseth said.

Aguilar then asked: “Is the theory to create more ceasefires or more projects just to evade the War Powers Act?”

“The theory of the entire case is to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. And if that has to be done kinetically and militarily, the Department of War is locked and loaded and ready to do that,” Hegseth replied.

Hegseth’s opening statement thus far is devoid of the bluster and partisanship that characterized his testimony before the House and Senate Armed Services committees.

That’s likely because he’s been advised that the appropriations subcommittees he is appearing in front of today are responsible for cutting the check that funds his department. He’s not going to walk into their house and bite the hand that feeds him.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s testimony to Congress Tuesday morning comes less than a month after he got into a tense exchange with lawmakers who questioned the validity of the Iran war.

Catch up with Hegseth’s most recent testimony: