Senators are particularly concerned about the $300 billion fund for Iranian reconstruction as Congress asks if war was worth it

The question hangs in the halls at the Capitol: Was it worth it? Congress, which never authorized the war against Iran yet never fully objected to it, now must grapple with the consequences of President Donald Trump’s nearly four-month conflict: the lives lost, the billions spent and the national security fallout that has reordered the political dynamics in the Middle East. Ask senators what they think about the deal Trump struck to end the war, and they do not search too far for words. “Pathetic. Failure. Inevitable conclusion of a combination of never making the case to the American people, flawed strategic vision, lack of grasp of the regional dynamics,” said Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “How many ways, can I say, bad, bad, bad?” Yet Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a past chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said that because of the president’s actions, “We are safer today.” “You can criticize — Oh, he didn’t totally win,” Johnson said. “Well, that was always going to be very difficult.” As Trump moves on to the next phase, it is left to the Congress to pick up the pieces: explaining the war to voters back home, restocking the military arsenal that has run low from bombing runs and trying to ensure the fragile ceasefire holds as the United States seeks to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions and work toward an uneasy peace. More money for the Pentagon Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the rounds on Capitol Hill this past week as lawmakers consider Defense Department funding as part of the Republican majority’s next big budget package. The White House has asked for a remarkable $1.5 trillion for the Pentagonthis year, on top of the extra money that Republicans delivered as part of the Trump’s tax cuts package last year. Republicans are mulling a sizable $350 billion plus-up for Hegseth on par with the White House’s budget request that the GOP co