Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who testified alongside Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended the request as an “urgent, necessary” step to restock the Pentagon’s arsenal of precision weaponry and to avoid looming shortfalls in the military’s budget. But lawmakers also pressed Hegseth and Caine to explain the administration’s approach to the war. Under questioning, Caine declined to say whether the war would continue to escalate, including when it came to a possible ground invasion.