In the long American tradition of wars whose costs reveal themselves slowly, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee in Washington to account for $37.5 billion already spent on military operations against Iran — and to ask for nearly $88 billion more. The request, driven by depleted weapons stocks and intensifying pressure around the Strait of Hormuz, exposed the familiar tension between executive confidence and legislative skepticism. At stake is not merely a budget line but a question as old as the republic: who holds the authority to sustain a war,