{"id":11267,"date":"2026-05-12T19:22:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T19:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/congress-waits-on-iran-war-costs-while-mulling-1-5t-defense-request\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T19:22:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T19:22:03","slug":"congress-waits-on-iran-war-costs-while-mulling-1-5t-defense-request","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/congress-waits-on-iran-war-costs-while-mulling-1-5t-defense-request\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress waits on Iran-war costs while mulling $1.5T defense request"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lawmakers are preparing to make their edits to the Trump administration\u2019s 2027 budget bill, but concerns are growing that the next round of funding won\u2019t cover lost aircraft, damaged facilities, or expended munitions from the Iran war because the Defense Department has refused to provide details to Congress.<\/p>\n

The war has cost an estimated $29 billion, Jay Hurst, the official performing the duties of the Pentagon\u2019s chief financial officer, told the House Appropriation Committee\u2019s defense panel during a Tuesday hearing, up from the $25 billion estimate he offered April 29.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we’re buying things in the reconciliation request that are being used in the Iran conflict, including munitions,\u201d Hurst said, alluding to a $350 billion bill that would complement the DoD base budget and supplemental funding and bring the administration\u2019s total proposed defense spending for 2027 to $1.5 trillion. \u201cThere’s over $40 billion in a munitions request, in reconciliation. So that would be part of the replacement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under questioning, Hurst conceded that the $40 billion figure\u2014put together well before the Trump administration began attacking Iran in February\u2014was not actually meant to replace munitions expended in the war.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hurst\u2019s public estimates are about as much information as lawmakers have received about the costs of the Iran war, according to multiple lawmakers who directed frustration at his boss: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who also testified at the hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to get a reporting of the dollars that have been spent in this has been excruciating,\u201d Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y. \u201cI think Gen. Washington reported quicker to the Continental Congress than this has been, in terms of reports to the United States Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegseth implied that the Pentagon is not required to comply with requests for information from lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we’ve updated on that number this morning,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when it’s relevant and required, we will share it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegseth was also pressed on his lack of transparency during a Senate Appropriations Committee defense panel hearing, also on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would simply respond that\u2014and I think it’s an important point, considering what the President is undertaking\u2014what is the cost of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Recent reports have suggested that Iran is no further from building a nuclear bomb today than they were before Operation Epic Fury, or even last summer\u2019s Operation Midnight Hammer\u2019s attacks on nuclear facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur job is to appropriate dollars, and we’re just told it’s coming, it’s coming, and we don’t get it. So it’s very hard to do our budgets,\u201d Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

At the same time, lawmakers are waiting to see whether the administration reignites the war with Iran, having passed the 60-day deadline to get congressional approval for hostilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though the White House told Congress May 1 that Operation Epic Fury has \u201cterminated,\u201d the U.S. continues a naval blockade of Iran, while Hegseth has erroneously insisted that the ceasefire paused the 60-day clock, while the president said Monday the ceasefire is \u201con life support.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lack of information-sharing with Congress, which has oversight of how the Defense Department spends its money, is part of a larger pattern, according to the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department of Defense does not brief us, frankly, on anything, and I’m also including my Republican colleagues,\u201d Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., told reporters Tuesday during an event with the Project for Media and National Security.\u00a0 \u201cThey just refuse to give us any meaningful data. They refuse even to follow a law which requires reporting to us in a certain number of days.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the president continues to ignore the War Powers resolution, Reed said, there is some hope that both Democratic and Republican lawmakers will step in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just a key issue of, do all the members of Congress take seriously their constitutional obligation to ensure the laws are faithfully executed?\u201d he said. \u201cI think there are some people on the other side, they’ve expressed concern and nervousness, etc., and if they come forward and say, \u2018We have to do this,\u2019 then that will help us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Senate is scheduled to convene Tuesday afternoon to consider a War Powers resolution that would formally end the conflict in Iran and compel the administration to withdraw troops deployed there to support it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I know there’s different opinions, and it changes from day to day, whether or not the War Powers clock is paused, but this law states beyond May 2, the administration needs congressional authorization to continue military operations,\u201d Betty McCollum, D-Minn., said during the HAC hearing. \u201cThe president just recently said yesterday that Epic Fury is not over. Military operations have continued. We have a naval blockade, and both sides are exchanging fire. They did so over the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegseth told lawmakers during the SAC hearing Tuesday that he believes the president has \u201call the authorities necessary\u201d to restart hostilities against Iran at any time.\n\n<\/svg><\/p>\n<\/div>\n