Hegseth has repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for allegedly failing to sufficiently fund the military during his four years in office.

Democratic Sen. Jack Reed tried to put a stop to that.

“We’re talking about the war you started. Not a situation in which oil was flowing freely, there was no conflict, we weren’t losing personnel,” Reed said. “So your fallback to Biden is just a very, very obvious excuse for I think as you describe so often is ‘gross negligence.’”

He suggested that Hegseth has failed to provide the administration with contingencies for what the consequences of war with Iran would look like, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and resulting fallout.

Hegseth said Trump “deserves” praise.

“He should be praised for starting war without authority, creating a situation in which the world economy is suffering tremendously?” Reed said.

Hegseth’s latest estimate for the growing costs of the Iran war has now reached $37.5 billion.

That’s likely a low-end estimate, according to analysts.

Before the last week of attacks, the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated total costs to have reached between $34 billion and $42 billion. Other estimates place the true cost of the war to have reached more than $100 billion.

Murray pointed to Hegseth’s statements in April, when he said Iran’s missile program was “functionally destroyed.”

She also pointed to his statement in May claiming that Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz, despite traffic through the critical waterway shrinking and attacks increasing.

“Iran is at the weakest point militarily it has ever been in in the past decade,” Hegseth insisted Tuesday.

“So I acknowledge they still have capabilities, no doubt. But the amount of damage that we’ve done to them over the course of of these series of operations has put them in the worst place they’ve ever been,” he added.

Sen. Patty Murray listed several items in the funding request that have no relation to the Iran war, including $800 million for the National Guard to patrol D.C., $1 billion for troops on the U.S-Mexico border and $900 million for boat strikes of suspected drug traffickers.

“The truth is your request does not make a lot of sense,” she said. “Why is the urgently needed for the Iran war?”

Hegseth has repeatedly said throughout the hearing that the Defense Department is now struggling due to “gross negligence and neglect” under the Biden administration, which “abandoned” the U.S. “strength posture around the world.”

Hegseth did not mention the war in Iran let alone the deaths of at least three U.S. service members in recent days as he addressed the committee in his opening remarks.

Gen. Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who is testifying alongside Hegseth, opened his remarks recognizing the service members.

Caine expressed his “deep condolences and the condolences of the Joint Force” to the families of the fallen soldiers.

The Department of Defense is seeking a $1.5 trillion overall budget, which includes $67 billion in supplemental funding.

That includes $21 billion for military pay, replacing equipment, sustaining forces, and addressing “mission critical fuel shortfalls,” Hegseth said.

Another $46 billions will “expand production” as well as munitions, including counter-drone capabilities, and for “digital and space dominance,” he said.

“Not fully funding this department I believe is the greatest threat our nation faces,” he said. “Either invest in our warriors … or this is all just talk.”

At least four protesters have interrupted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s opening remarks as he urges the committee to approve billions of dollars in taxpayer funding for the Iran war.

“This is against the Iranian people,” one person said.

“Stop bombing our children in Iran and Palestine. This is illegal,” another protester shouted.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reportedly blocked at least two women, two Black men and three white men from promotions as the Pentagon allegedly violates the U.S. military’s apolitical and merit-based promotion rules.

Hegseth also allegedly tried to prevent several one-star admirals from advancing in rank.

Sen. Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, said the reports are “deeply troubling.”

“The United States is one of the greatest meritocracies. We need to make sure that it stays that way,” she said.

Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, blasted the “astronomical” costs of the “disastrous” Iran war in her opening remarks.

Tens of billions of Americans’ tax dollars have been spent as Trump “blundered us into a disastrous war,” she said.

“What has actually been achieved?” she asked.

The way the administration has “blissfully operated with no plan of success is disrespectful to our men and women in uniform,” she said.

Four months after the star of the war, Trump is now “threatening escalation and war crimes” after saying the conflict would be ending more than 40 times, she said.

The administration is “now asking for $70 billion more and to just trust him that it will work out fine,” she said.

Massad Boulos, a senior adviser to Trump on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, told reporters that the president’s meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun “went very well.”

“There was a very good chemistry between the two presidents,” Boulos said. “It went very well. It was very productive.”

Asked whether the U.S. has any leverage over Hezbollah, Boulos said “there are always options.”

There are always tools that the president has at his disposal that he can employ at any time,” he said.

“There are many, many tools,” Boulos added. “You have seen already some of them by the Treasury Department, by other departments. The president and Secretary of State have always said they have tools at their disposal that they may choose to take up at any time.”