US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Iran war has cost the US $37.5 billion so far
Hegseth appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee alongside Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee to testify on Trump's $87.6 billion funding request, which covers the Iran war, farm aid and other expenses. The request includes $67.1 billion for the war and $20.5 billion in non-defense funding covering farm aid, the Ebola outbreak, infrastructure projects and other initiatives.
Senators pressed Hegseth over his past statements on the war's progress, including his claim that Iran's military had been "destroyed," despite continued Iranian missile strikes. At the time of the hearing, the confirmed US military death toll in the war stood at 18 service members, with hundreds more reported injured.
During the hearing, Hegseth told lawmakers that because of certain aspects of the war as well as anticipated costs through September 30, the US has spent $37.5 billion on the war with Iran so far. US President Donald Trump asked Congress last month for nearly $90 billion in additional funding, most of it related to the conflict in Iran.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have complained that Trump and his team have not kept them informed about the conflict or his plans. In defense of the proposal, Hegseth said military training would need to be curtailed without an urgent funding boost, and called on lawmakers to fund not just the supplemental request but also a $1.5 trillion budget request for 2027, saying, "Not funding this department at $1.5 trillion, I believe, is the greatest threat that our nation faces."
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine acknowledged the Pentagon could struggle with maintenance costs and investment in future capabilities.
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Trump has threatened in the past week to expand targets in Iran to include energy plants and bridges, send ground forces to seize Iran's Kharg Island oil hub, and bomb the underground Pickaxe Mountain site.
On Tuesday, Trump said the US would take out the mountain facility "pretty soon."
This all comes as US Central Command completed its 11th consecutive round of strikes Wednesday morning. CENTCOM said the strikes targeted Iranian military operations centers, maritime capabilities, aircraft hangars, drone storage facilities and military logistics infrastructure "to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz." The strikes lasted about 75 minutes late Tuesday.
An Iranian health ministry official said 50 civilians have been killed and 500 wounded in recent US strikes on Iran. US troop deaths in the war have risen to 18 in recent days.