Pentagon’s $1.5 Trillion Budget Request Meets Congressional Fire Over Iran War Costs

The Trump administration’s self-made quagmire in Iran is under the congressional microscope as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testify before the House Armed Services Committee. The hearing centers on the Pentagon’s staggering $1.5 trillion budget request for fiscal year 2027 — a request many lawmakers argue is inflated by the ongoing, unauthorized war with Iran.

Now in its ninth week, the conflict has already drained resources and sent oil and gas prices soaring. The average price at the pump hit $4.23 per gallon this morning, a 42 percent increase since the war began, squeezing American families and fueling economic instability. Peace negotiations remain stalled, with no clear end in sight.

Democrats and some Republicans are demanding the Trump administration comply with the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which mandates congressional approval for armed conflicts extending beyond 60 days. The law also sets a 30-day withdrawal window, meaning the administration has until June to pull U.S. forces out of Iran.

Members of Congress grilled Hegseth and Caine on the administration’s strategy — or lack thereof — for winding down the conflict, highlighting the reckless escalation and diplomatic sabotage that has turned a foreign policy failure into a domestic crisis. The hearing exposed the administration’s disregard for constitutional checks and balances, as well as the real human and economic costs of Trump’s manufactured war.

This Pentagon budget request is not just about numbers on a page. It reflects a broader pattern of Trump’s authoritarian overreach, using foreign conflict to distract from mounting scandals at home and consolidate power abroad. The question now is whether Congress will step up to rein in this administration’s dangerous impulses before the damage becomes irreversible.