Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that the war against Iran has cost the United States approximately $37.5 billion, up from an estimate of roughly $29 billion in mid-May.
The revised figure reflects payroll, operations, maintenance, and other anticipated costs through the end of the fiscal year, according to Hegseth’s written statement to the committee. The estimate does not include the cost of rebuilding US bases damaged in the conflict. Air & Space Forces Magazine
The costs trace to a specific set of drivers. Officials cited munitions replenishment, sustained naval operations in the Strait of Hormuz, and the collapse of a fragile ceasefire that had held since an earlier deal fell apart, according to Arab News. Hegseth was joined by Joint Chiefs Chair General Dan Caine, who acknowledged the limitations of airpower in the conflict.
Democrats pressed the administration on why new funding is needed at all. Senator Jeanne Shaheen asked why the American people should absorb war costs “instead of asking for transfer authority for unspent reconciliation funding,” noting Hegseth still has $75 billion available. Hegseth responded that the unspent money was “otherwise allocated” for the Golden Dome missile defense program, hypersonics, and other munitions investments, according to the Deccan Chronicle.
Of the broader $87.6 billion supplemental request, $67 billion would go to the Pentagon specifically to cover costs of the war in Iran and replenish depleted weapons stocks, per NewsOn6, with the remainder directed toward unrelated priorities, including farm aid and Ebola containment funding.
