As the Pentagon seeks $67 billion in additional funding from Congress, 46 Democratic senators are formally demanding the Pentagon be more open about how much the war has cost so far in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Nearly the entire Democratic caucus demanded the Pentagon and Hegseth provide a full accounting and budget requests tied to operations in the Middle East. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., was the only Democrat who didn’t sign.
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“I’ve always been at odds with my fellow Democrats over how we hold Iran accountable,” Fetterman said in a statement to NBC News. “I’ll continue to remain an unapologetic supporter of efforts to confront the Iranian regime and its proxies.”
So far, the Pentagon and U.S. military have provided some estimates, but not the total cost of the war or how much it will cost to repair bases and replace damaged assets.
What the letter states
Throughout the letter, Democrats not only demanded clarity on the war’s cost and budget, but also reiterated their disappointment over the lack of information about the war itself.
“Despite your stated needs, you have repeatedly refused to share basic information that previous administrations, Republican and Democratic, provided to the American public and Congress during times of war,” the letter says.
The letter compares briefings during the first six months of the Iraq war to the first six months in Iran. It said in 2003, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld briefed Congress 20 times. Meanwhile, in the same period, Hegseth briefed Congress seven times.
“And in those appearances, refused to answer basic questions about the objectives and cost of this war,” the letter says.
The cost so far
The administration has made brief claims about the war’s cost, with a Congressional Budget Office report putting it at $38 billion so far.
Meanwhile, Hegseth told the Senate Appropriations Committee the cost so far was at $37.5 billion. He said the estimate consists of payroll, operations, maintenance and other “anticipated” costs.
And earlier this week, the Defense Department inspector general estimated the U.S. spent $33.4 billion on the operation through late June, including $22.3 billion in expended munitions and $3.7 billion in equipment losses. The estimate does not include infrastructure repair costs.
Pentagon seeks $67 billion
The letter comes as lawmakers consider the Pentagon’s request for additional funding, something lawmakers mentioned in the letter. They’re asking Hegseth to break down the Pentagon’s latest $67 billion supplemental budget request and specify what the funds are for.
“Your public $67 billion Iran war supplemental request was a thin, seven-page document with only vague descriptions, such as ‘$1.2 billion for Administration priorities,’” the lawmakers wrote. “Despite asking for tens of billions of additional taxpayer dollars, you have so far failed to provide basic information on how this money has and will be spent.”
They say Americans at home have “already paid an extra $100 billion” out of their pocket as a result of the war.
“Now you are asking that they pay again to fund a war of choice that Congress never authorized and the President launched with no strategic plan,” the letter says.
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