US says Iran war cost at $37.5B, more needed
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced fiery questions and protests on Tuesday over the US war with Iran, which he estimated has cost $37.5 billion so far, as Republicans prepare a $95-billion package to fund the military, along with other White House priorities.
Hegseth provided the new estimate, up from earlier assessments, during a combative Senate appropriations committee hearing, which came days after the Pentagon announced that three more American service members have died in the conflict, bringing the death toll to 17, and that more than 100 have been injured since early July. Several times protesters interrupted his opening remarks.
Hegseth said the supplemental war funding is an “urgent, necessary” injection of money, and with President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5-trillion defense budget a generational investment in the military.
‘Out of control’
But Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the panel, warned of “another forever war.”
“This war is now spiraling out of control again,” Murray said.
President Trump has said repeatedly that “a deal is near, and the war will be over soon,” she said. “But now, he’s asking for $70 billion more—and for us to just trust him it’ll all work out fine.”
Most Americans continue to disapprove of how Trump is handling Iran, according to an AP-NORC poll. Gas prices have spiked as Iran works to control oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, US munitions are running low from the onslaught of American missile strikes, and Trump has shifted away from his own campaign promise not to draw the United States into prolonged military conflicts.
Nevertheless, Trump has shown no signs of backing off the war, and the Republicans have largely refused to confront his strategy or use Congress’ power of the purse and war powers authority to halt the conflict.
Torrent of questions
Hegseth appeared before the panel facing a torrent of questions about not only the war, but his own leadership of the department.
Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire questioned why Hegseth is asking for more money when the department has not yet spent about half the $150 billion Republicans provided the Pentagon in last year’s big budget bill.
“Why are you asking the American people to absorb the cost of a war they don’t support?” asked Shaheen.
Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana was among several senators demanding answers over the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, asking if Iran will impose tolls on what historically has been an open waterway vital to the flow of oil.
When Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan said the administration’s war strategy has been a complete “failure,” Hegseth erupted.
“Shame on you and others who call this a quagmire and a failure,” Hegseth said.
Peters told the secretary: “You, sir, are the failure.”
The senator said it’s not the US troops who are failing, but their leaders. “You don’t have a strategy,” Peters said. “You don’t have a long-term plan to actually win this war.”
