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Sen. Mark Kelly criticized Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth for rapidly burning through “years” worth of pricey munitions in Iran, for rhetoric suggesting American troops will kill those who surrender and for the need to sharply increase military spending.

Kelly, D-Arizona, offered a grim assessment of the Trump administration’s war with Iran and said the buildup in the Pentagon’s budget included what he viewed as investments in weapons that cost too much or won’t work when needed.

“Mr. Secretary, this war is stuck,” Kelly said. “The Strait of Hormuz is closed. The Iranian regime is in place. The nuclear material is still in their hands. Americans are being crushed by higher costs, and it’s not clear to them at all what the goal of this war is.”

The April 30 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee didn’t hint at the monthslong legal battle between Hegseth and Kelly over the “illegal orders” video that Kelly took part in last November. But their first public face-to-face exchange since the video did show the men remain far apart in their vision for what the U.S. military should be doing.

The Senate’s hearing on the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request featured far less rhetorical broadsides than a similar hearing the day before in the House of Representatives. But Senate Democrats on the Armed Services Committee again pilloried Hegseth and the Trump administration across several fronts.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, for example, highlighted that none of the $400 million intended in last year’s budget for Ukraine had gone to that nation in its war with Russia. Officials said the Pentagon was still determining what type of aid to provide the Ukrainians.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan, who, like Kelly, took part in the illegal orders video and was targeted with possible criminal indictment, pleaded with Hegseth to reject any request that the military take election equipment from U.S. states.

Hegseth dismissed her concerns as “another gotcha hypothetical” and promised to follow the law.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, asked for evidence that any of the nearly 50 strikes on suspected drug boats in international waters had drugs and said the administration had yet to ask congressional authorization of a war within the 60-day legal requirement, though that deadline has arguably arrived.

Hegseth argued that the ceasefire with Iran has stopped the clock on that deadline.

Hegseth agreed with Kelly that it would take years to accumulate the intended numbers of advanced weapons, especially because the Trump administration doesn’t want to match what it had, but significantly expand those numbers in part through wider production facilities.

“The time frame we were existing under was unacceptable,” Hegseth said. “We’re building new plants in real time.”

Kelly asked Hegseth about a March 13 comment to reporters interpreted to mean U.S. troops would not accept the surrender of enemies, which could constitute war crimes.

“We will keep pressing. We will keep pushing, keep advancing, no quarter, no mercy for our enemies,” Hegseth said at the time.

Kelly asked Hegseth to clarify whether he meant to invoke a term the military defines to mean detainees would be executed. Hegseth backed away from that interpretation and suggested the Iranians are the war criminals.

“The only entity that would kill detainees or target civilians is the Iranians, and they’re the ones being crushed,” Hegseth told Kelly. “We fight to win and we follow the law, senator.”

Kelly later asked Hegseth about the proposed budget, saying the $1.5 trillion amount “was just kind of pulled out of thin air.” It is about a 40% increase over the current annual budgeted amount.

Hegseth said the budget “was the product of a highly rigorous process,” and reflects reality and future U.S. needs.

Military budgets for China, Russia, India and European countries are only slightly higher than what the U.S. now proposes to spend on the Pentagon, Kelly said.

“If the rest of the world won’t spend on their defense, that’s their fault,” Hegseth countered. “I want to make sure our folks have what they need.”

Hegseth mentioned that one of the priorities is building new ships for the Navy, which Kelly is seeking as well.

Kelly again cast doubt on the viability of Trump’s proposed missile-defense system, known as the “Golden Dome.”

“I know a little bit about intercepting stuff in space and it’s really hard. The physics on this favors the offense,” Kelly said.

“I’m just encouraging you to go back and see if there are some systems where we can bring that number, the overall number, down because ... some of this stuff we either don’t need or it’s not going to work.”

While the men made no mention of their legal dispute over Kelly’s video, the matter will again move to the fore next week when Hegseth’s appeal is argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., on May 7.