US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has estimated the cost of a war with Iran at $37.5 billion so far, up from a previous estimate of about $29 billion in mid-May.
“The estimate we have today is $37.5 billion,” Hegseth said during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in which he defended the request for approximately $67 billion in additional funding for the Pentagon.
Higseth and General Dan Keane, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, informed Congress that the funding request was “urgent” and “necessary” to cover Pentagon expenses related to the war with Iran through the end of September.
But Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen questioned that estimate, saying that Hegseth still had $75 billion of available funds that had not yet been used.
She added, "Why are you asking the American people to bear the cost of a war they do not support, instead of demanding the authority to transfer funds that have been approved but not yet spent?"
Hegseth responded by saying that the money that has not yet been spent has been “allocated to other purposes” within President Donald Trump’s priorities, such as “America’s Golden Dome” and other investments in the field of armaments.
The funding requested does not take into account the cost of rebuilding US military bases in the Middle East.
Other senators expressed their frustration, demanding more details about Trump's strategy for winning the Middle East war.
Demands for transparency have transcended partisan divisions, with Republican Senator John Kennedy saying, “We need decisive answers and a frank discourse,” when he questioned what would happen if the United States withdrew from the Strait of Hormuz.
Hegseth and Keane did not specify whether Iran would impose fees on ships seeking to cross the strait.
Tags:
america
