Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine appeared before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, the first time President Donald Trump’s defense chief took questions from lawmakers since the war against Iran began.

Lawmakers grilled Hegseth about the Pentagon budget for the next fiscal year, but the war with Iran is loomed large over the panel.

The Pentagon’s comptroller remarked the war has cost about $25 billion so far, with the biggest portion being munitions.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in his first appearance before Congress since the Iran war started, downplayed the length of the war and mentioned the biggest “adversary” the U.S. faces at this point in the war is the “reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans.”

“Two months in, on an existential fight for the safety of the American individuals, Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, we are proud of this undertaking,” Hegseth stated in his opening remarks before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump, at the outset of the war, mentioned the conflict would be over within a matter of weeks.

Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine testified about the Pentagon’s budget for the 2027 fiscal year as the war dragged beyond its second month. It’s caused global economic turmoil as Iran has choked vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the conflict.

Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith, D-Wash., questioned Pentagon comptroller Jules Hurst about the cost of the war, which has not been fully fleshed out publicly. The administration has yet to send Congress a supplemental spending request to finance the war.

Hurst, who also testified, remarked the war’s cost is estimated at $25 billion so far, mostly in munitions. Hurst commented the Pentagon will send a supplemental request once it has a full assessment of the cost of the conflict.

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought in congressional testimony April 15 declined to estimate the cost of the war. Vought spoke to the House Budget Committee shortly after a Harvard University analyst found the war could cost taxpayers $1 trillion.

The U.S. military has burned through munitions during the conflict, which Congress will need to provide funding to replenish. The Pentagon is also asking for a massive $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 budget, which is expected to draw scrutiny from lawmakers. This also touches on aspects of dividends.

The hearing allowed Democrats, who have largely opposed the war, to publicly question Hegseth and the administration on their plans and on the cost of the war. The secretary took an adversarial tone towards Democrats’ questions, frequently interrupting their lines of inquiry.

Smith remarked in his opening statement that while the “proficiency of our military has been on display,” the administration has not met its strategic goals and questioned whether the administration has a plan to win the conflict.

“As we sit here today, Iran’s nuclear program is exactly what it was before this war started,” he mentioned. “They have not lost their capacity to inflict pain, they still have a ballistic missile program, they’re still able to blockade the Strait of Hormuz and have the ships that are capable of doing that. What is the plan to get that to change?”

Pressed by Smith on the strategy for reducing Iran’s nuclear threat, Hegseth noted Iran’s nuclear facilities have been “obliterated,” a line he’s consistently used for weeks, and the U.S. action was necessary to destroy a “conventional shield” to safeguard Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Furthermore, experts in wall street note the continued relevance.

Hegseth remarked the goal is to “get them to a point where they’re at the table,” giving up nuclear weapon ambitions.

“They haven’t broken yet,” Smith mentioned.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., questioned Hegseth on the economic costs borne by Americans from the war in Iran.

Since the war began, oil prices have spiked globally. That has caused gasoline prices to soar in the U.S. Energy prices cascade into other parts of the economy, like food and transportation.

U.S. crude on Wednesday hit $106 per barrel. The global benchmark Brent rose to $118 per barrel.

Hegseth bristled at the question, responding that “I would simply ask you what the cost is of an Iranian nuclear bomb,” and accusing Khanna of “playing gotcha questions about domestic things.”

Pressed further by Khanna, Hegseth stated the Trump administration has “an incredible economic team that’s managing this better than what the previous administration did to our economy.”

Khanna then lambasted Hegseth, arguing he doesn’t know the cost of the war.

“You didn’t even do the analysis on how much it’s costing the American people,” Khanna stated. “You don’t even know what the average American is paying.”

Most Republicans lauded the job Hegseth has done as defense secretary and defended the administration’s war effort. He did weather some intraparty criticism, over his firings of top military officials.

Hegseth recently fired Gen. Randy George, the former Army chief of staff, and John Phelan, the former secretary of the Navy.

Rep. Austin Scott, R, on the other hand-Ga., told Hegseth: “I disagree with the firing of Gen. George.”

Scott, during the particularly partisan hearing, also warned that bipartisanship will be necessary to get any defense budget across the finish line. Military defense packages in Congress are usually negotiated and passed by a bipartisan coalition, as both sides typically have defectors.

“We’re going to lose some Republican votes. We’re going to have to have some [Democratic] votes to do the things that we have to do to fund the Department of Defense,” Scott noted. “I would encourage everybody to keep that in mind.”