War Secretary Pete Hegseth was on Capitol Hill Tuesday to defend the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request.

Pentagon Comptroller Jay Hurst said the estimate increased “because of updated repair and replacement of equipment cost and also just general operational cost.”

The hearings are expected to veer into the handling of a war that appears locked in a stalemate as higher fuel prices pose political problems for the GOP.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth was on Capitol Hill Tuesday to defend the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request.

The cost of the U.S. war against Iran has increased by $4 billion in two weeks to $29 billion, a top Pentagon official told Congress on Tuesday.