- Pentagon seeks additional funding for war with Iran.
- Lawmakers are frustrated by the war as the midterm elections approach.
- The Pentagon is seeking a budget of $1.5 trillion by 2027.
WASHINGTON: The cost of the US war in Iran has risen to $37.5 billion so far, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday, facing skeptical lawmakers for the first time since heavy bombing resumed in search of urgent funding for the unpopular conflict.
With just six months until the midterm elections, in which President Donald Trump’s Republicans may face an uphill battle to maintain their majorities in the House and Senate, Democrats are atop public opinion polls as they try to link the unpopular Iran war with affordability.
Hegseth told lawmakers at a hearing in Washington that the $37.5 billion included certain aspects of the war, as well as expected costs through Sept. 30.
It was unclear how the Pentagon arrived at that figure. A source told Reuters in March that the Trump administration estimated the first six days of the war had cost at least $11.3 billion.
Trump asked Congress last month for nearly $90 billion in additional funding, most of it related to the Iran conflict, setting the stage for another fight with lawmakers frustrated with the war and ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have complained since the United States and Israel began bombing Iran on Feb. 28 that Trump and his team have not kept them informed about the conflict or his plans.
“The president is threatening escalation and war crimes, and suggesting this could be another forever war,” Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said at the hearing. Trump has repeatedly made serious threats against Iran, including against civilian infrastructure, which critics say would be a war crime.
Trump Republicans have such narrow margins in the House and Senate that appropriations bills typically need Democratic support to pass.
“The reason they (the people) are so upset with you and with this administration is because the words you have used in the past don’t add up,” said Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “It’s either over or it’s not over. It’s in two weeks, or it’s not two weeks, it’s missiles or it’s not missiles.”
Impact of war
Hegseth also told lawmakers that it would be necessary to reduce military training without an urgent increase in funding.
The war has strained the Pentagon’s nearly $1 trillion budget and risks funding military personnel issues. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine acknowledged that potential cost during the hearing, saying that while they would figure out how to pay service members, the Pentagon could struggle with maintenance costs as well as investing in future capabilities.
Hegseth asked lawmakers to not only fund the supplemental request but also a $1.5 trillion 2027 budget request.
“I believe that not funding this department with $1.5 trillion is the biggest threat facing our nation,” Hegseth said.
A fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran collapsed earlier this month and both sides have been carrying out daily attacks on each other.
The number of US soldiers killed in the war against Iran rose to 18 over the weekend, while approximately 430 US soldiers were wounded. The Pentagon said Monday that 100 service members have been injured since July 7, but that 96% have returned to duty.
Last week, Trump threatened to expand targets attacked in Iran to include bridges and power plants, send ground forces to seize Iran’s Kharg Island oil hub and bomb an underground nuclear-linked site known as Pickaxe Mountain.
On Tuesday, Trump said the United States would destroy the mountain facilities “very soon.”
