Murphy says ending war with Iran will be top priority at Rubio hearing

Chris Murphy is sharpening the fight in Washington over Iran’s endgame, saying his top priority when Marco Rubio testifies this week will be “ending the war in Iran.” The Connecticut Democrat made the case on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, where he said Rubio was due before the Senate Appropriations Committee asking for a $33.6 billion budget.

Murphy cast the conflict as a direct hit on American households, arguing it has driven gas prices to about $6 a gallon in some places and has done little but strengthen Iran. He described the war as “an absolute disaster for the United States,” a message aimed squarely at a Congress already split over how far the administration should go and what, exactly, U.S. objectives in Iran are.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has already scheduled Rubio’s FY27 State Department budget hearing for Tuesday, June 2, at 10:00 a.m. in SD-419, with the secretary of state listed as the sole witness. That hearing is likely to become a proxy battle over whether the United States is seeking a limited military mission, a broader campaign, or a diplomatic exit ramp that can still preserve congressional authority.

The stakes were laid bare in March, when Senate Republicans blocked a War Powers Resolution led by Adam Schiff, Cory Booker, Tim Kaine and Murphy. The sponsors said the effort was aimed at ending what they called Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran after weeks of fighting that they said had left 13 servicemembers dead and 200 injured. The vote underscored how little room there has been for Congress to direct the conflict, even as lawmakers demand clearer limits and a path out.

Rubio has defended the operation as a narrow military action. In March, he said the U.S. goal was to eliminate Iran’s short-range ballistic missile threat and the threat posed by its navy, framing the mission as a way to reduce risk to U.S. forces. He also said the United States struck three Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 and warned that closing the Strait of Hormuz would be a “suicidal” move by Iran.

Murphy’s office has tried to widen the argument beyond battlefield tactics, saying in May that money spent on the Iran war could instead support education, health care and national parks. That warning is now colliding with the budget hearing, where lawmakers are expected to press Rubio on whether the administration has a defined exit strategy, a legal basis for escalation, and any plan to stop a conflict that is already reshaping prices, policy and power in Washington.