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On Tuesday, May 12, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified in back-to-back hearings before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Throughout the hearings, Hegseth defended Trump’s defense budget request of $1.5 trillion.

Hegseth was joined by General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Jules Hurst III, the Pentagon’s acting comptroller. During the first hearing of the day before the House Appropriations Committee, Hegseth began his speech by defending Trump’s $1.5 trillion budget request, saying, “The $1.5 trillion budget will ensure the United States continues to maintain the world’s most powerful and capable military.”

“President Trump inherited a defense industrial base that had been hollowed out by years of America-last policies,” Hegseth went on, adding that the Trump administration is “reversing this systemic decay and putting our defense industrial base back on a wartime footing.”

During this session, Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-California) asked Hurst for an updated estimate of the cost of the war. Hurst responded that the cost of the war has risen “closer” to $29 billion dollars, up from $25 billion from the previous hearing on April 29. Hurst claimed that the additional $4 billion dollars is due to “repair and equipment costs” and “general operational costs.”

Decades of Congressional Inaction Contributed to Illegal US-Israeli War on Iran

Though Hurst is suggesting an additional $4........

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