WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats tasked with overseeing defense left a classified briefing Tuesday incensed about President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, as the United States and Israel continue their joint bombardment and families prepare to bury seven American service members killed in the conflict.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he left the briefing “more doubtful than ever that there is clarity on objectives or exit strategy.”

“I emerged from this briefing as dissatisfied and angry, frankly, as I have from any past briefing in my 15 years in the Senate. I am left with more questions than answers, especially about the cost of the war,” Blumenthal said.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that since the beginning of the war in Iran, “approximately 140 U.S. service members have been wounded over 10 days of sustained attacks.” 

“The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty,” he said. “Eight service members remain listed as severely injured and are receiving the highest level of medical care.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, asked at a press briefing about a Reuters news report that as many as 150 U.S. troops have been injured in the war, replied, “I know it’s within that ballpark,” but deferred to the Pentagon for the exact numbers.

Seven U.S. troops have died, the Pentagon has said.

‘The most fighters, the most bombers’

Military and defense intelligence officials conducted the closed-door update for senators shortly after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, alongside Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine, said from the Pentagon that Iran should expect “yet again the most intense day of strikes” Tuesday.

“The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes — intelligence more refined and better than ever,” Hegseth said.

The secret briefing occurred a day after oil prices took a rollercoaster ride, peaking at $119 a barrel before falling below $90, due to Iranian officials’ effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s petroleum passes.

Giving mixed signals Monday night, Trump said the war in Iran is “going to be a short-term excursion,” but added later the U.S. military “will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.” 

Dems unsure of end game

Many Senate Democrats have criticized the administration for not coming before Congress to debate the war publicly.

“We’ve been calling over and over again for them to come out of the classified rooms to allow us to have these conversations as much as we can in an open setting,” Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said after leaving the briefing, held in a secured compartmented information facility, or SCIF, underneath the U.S. Capitol.

“I have to think about what I can and can’t say — it is concerning, it is disturbing, and I’m not sure what the end game is or what their plans are. They certainly have not made their case,” Rosen said.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said “a range of four individuals” briefed lawmakers, including a major general and personnel from the Joint Staff Intelligence and Defense Intelligence Agency, two organizations.

Telling reporters that “wild horses” could not get him to discuss the classified briefing, Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said he hasn’t received a request from Democrats, including ranking member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., for an open hearing.

Schumer demands hearings 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., issued a joint press release with Reed and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., just after the classified briefing demanding public hearings “on Trump’s war of choice.”

“Public hearings featuring cabinet-level witnesses have been a standard part of congressional oversight throughout our history, including recent military conflicts, as well as during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. After all, our founders were clear about the role of Congress in matters of war as the representatives of the American people,” the senators wrote.

South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds said he feels lawmakers are getting enough information from the administration, but he indicated that what happens after the bombing stops will largely be left up to civilians in Iran.

“That’s not our focus,” he said. “Our focus was on eliminating the threat to our people in the Middle East, to our allies, and to be able to address the threats before they became a lot worse in a very short period of time.”

Rounds said he believes that once the war ends, it will “be up to the Iranian people to determine whether they want to join the free world.”

“The Iranians are very smart people. They’re well educated. They can run their country if given the opportunity,” he said. “But if they just come to bring in another group of religious zealots, then they’re going to continue to have problems. And I think they realize that.”

Progress seen by Montana’s Sheehy

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren criticized the administration for not having clearer goals or an exit strategy. 

“Here we are, well into the second week of attacks, and there are still contradictory descriptions of the goals and contradictory descriptions of how we intend to accomplish this work.” she said. 

Montana Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy said he believes the U.S. military has “made great progress” during the first week-and-a-half of bombing. 

He said he expects the war will end once the United States and Israel have eliminated “the regime’s ability to continue to spread terror around the world and continue to control regional waterways and continue to try to kill Americans and our allies, not just in the region, but around the world.”

Shaheen, ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee, said she hopes the administration will publicly release its investigation into whether a U.S. missile struck near a girls school in Iran. 

“Hopefully they will release the investigation,” she said. “Certainly I don’t believe there is any deliberate intent to target civilians in Iran in that way, but the fact that there are so many different explanations for what’s happening raises concerns.”

Jacob Fischler contributed to this report.