A tense Senate hearing put Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on the defensive over the Iran war, which looks bad for the administration as troop death numbers appear to have been quietly altered.

• Hegseth asked Congress for more war money but couldn't explain what was done with funds already spent, then called Senator Gary Peters "a failure" for questioning the war.
• The Pentagon's website lowered the US death count from 18 to 14, dropping four soldiers killed after Trump's April ceasefire — critics say it's a cover-up.
• Even Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie slammed the move, with Massie saying the war is now illegal without congressional authorization.
• The Strait of Hormuz stays closed, keeping oil and gas prices higher than before the war started.
• The House passed a war powers resolution twice, but it failed in the Senate, so Trump keeps acting without limits.

Outlook: The fight over funding and the death toll will keep escalating, but with the Senate blocking limits, the Iran war looks set to grind on.