Since hostilities erupted in the Middle East beginning with the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the U.S. Navy has spent close to $1 billion on its operations in the region, which include fending off drone and missile attacks from Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

Speaking to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro told lawmakers that U.S. sailors have performed "extraordinarily well" and urged Congress to pass additional funding to resupply spent munitions, according to The Hill.

"We are now closely approaching a billion dollars in expenditures of munitions," he said. "We need this supplemental to pass this week."

Del Toro told Congress that the Navy has been using the Raytheon-manufactured Standard Missile 2s and Standard Missile 6s, both costly ballistic missile defense munitions that run more than $2 million each. The huge discrepancy in cost has served as a point of mockery from the Houthis, who have pointed out that the U.S. spends millions to defend against a $10,000 drone.

The Houthis have launched hundreds of drone attacks against U.S. military ships and commercial shipping vessels in the region since November. While the Houthis initially claimed their attacks were to stand in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Hamas war with Israel, they since have attacked ships with no connection to Israel.

The Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill in February, but the House has stalled the measure due to lack of funding for U.S. border security. The gridlocked legislation provides funding for Ukraine, Israel, and other allies.

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