Hegseth grilled by Senate on Iran war, munitions stockpiles
· UPIApril 30 (UPI) -- Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told a Senate committee it could take "months and years" to replace U.S. munitions used during the war in Iran while being grilled by lawmakers on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Hegseth said that he is aware of concerns about the country's weapons stockpile after nearly two months of war in Iran, with the non-specific time frame being his response about the nearly 50% increase in funding the Department of Defense has requested for fiscal year 2027.
Hours before a Senate war powers act to reign in President Donald Trump and the war he has waged in Iran with Israel, Hegseth suggested that the tenuous cease-fire currently in effect pauses the 60-day clock that presidents can wage war without authorization from Congress.
"Ultimately, I would defer to the White House and White House counsel on that," Hegseth told Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., when asked if the Trump administration would seek congressional authorization for the war, NBC News reported.
"However, we are in a cease-fire right now, which our understanding means the 60-day clock pauses or stops in a cease-fire," Hegseth said.
Kaine, noting that the 60-day clock runs out this week, said that he did "not believe the statute would support that."
The United States' and Israel's war in Iran, which was launched on Feb. 28, has just about stretched to the 60-day limit that a president is permitted to wage war, a time frame that law allows so that the executive branch can defend the country without waiting for permission from Congress.
Although House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told NBC News that he does not believe the United States is "at war" with Iran, Democrats and some Republicans in both the House and Senate disagree, The New York Times reported.
A vote in the Senate on the Democrats' sixth shot at limiting Trump's ability to wage war failed on Thursday afternoon 47 to 50, but the split included two Republicans voting in favor of the measure and one Democrat voting against it, CBS News reported.
The War Powers Resolution requires Trump after the 60 says to either ask Congress to authorize the war or to request a 30-day extension based his case for continued military action.
The ongoing cost of the war -- in addition to the cost of rebuilding U.S. weapons stockpiles -- also has come under fire, as Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked whether the $25 billion the Pentagon has told Congress it has spent on Iran is accurate.
"You're here to ask for appropriations, and I would like a more accurate estimate of what has been done that will require replacement and renovation, as well as the other costs," he said.
"And I think $25 billion is probably less than half, maybe less than a quarter, of the total cost of [the] war," Blumenthal said.
This week in Washington
Artemis II pilot Victor Glover (L) and mission specialist Christina Koch meet with President Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday. Photo by Graeme Sloan/UPI | License Photo