Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, came armed with an $87.6 billion Trump administration supplemental request that includes more than $67 billion for the war and other Pentagon spending.

And as Hegseth announced that the conflict had racked up $37.5 billion in costs, it is expanding. More US troops died over the weekend, bringing the death toll to 18; CNN reported that 100 American personnel had been injured since early July;