U.S. fight against Islamic State is nearing $3 billion: The Pentagon said this week that the United States has spent $2.91 billion battling the Islamic State since August, The Hill reports. The majority of the money, 54 percent, was spent on airstrikes. Just under 25 percent was spent on weapons, and the remainder was spent on missions involving military carriers and other operations, the story says. The United States began launching airstrikes against the terrorist group in Iraq in August and expanded the airstrikes to Syria in September.

Military nominations move forward, but civilian posts still in limbo: Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee announced they will hold a confirmation hearing for incoming Joint Chiefs chairman, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr., on Thursday, the Military Times reports. Confirmation hearings for the incoming Joint Chiefs vice chairman, Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, and the new chief of U.S. Transportation Command, Air Force Gen. Darren McDew, are slated for a week later, on July 14. None of the hearings are expected to be contentious. However, nominations hearings for top civilian Defense Department posts are still in limbo. From the story: “Gabriel Camarillo and Franklin Parker, nominated for assistant secretary of the Air Force and assistant secretary of the Navy, respectively, have been awaiting Senate action on their new posts for three months. Similarly, Stephen Welby, tapped to become assistant secretary of defense, and John Conger, in line to become principal deputy undersecretary of defense, have been sidelined since early March.”