Outside estimates suggest the cost could be up to tens of billions of dollars more than the Pentagon has announced.
Pete Hegseth says he has ‘plans’ to escalate Iran war if necessary
The Pentagon has increased its estimate of Iran’s war costs from $25 billion to $29 billion.
Senate Democrats are asking the federal budget examiner to examine the difference between the Pentagon’s $29 billion estimate for the cost of the Iran war and outside estimates that put it up to tens of billions more than the cost.
In a May 27 letter, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, asked the Congressional Budget Office to “consider the large discrepancies between the government’s public estimates and external estimates from media and analysts” about the cost of the Iran war.
“We are concerned that the administration has thus far not been fully truthful or transparent in its public accounting of war costs,” they wrote. 17 more Democratic senators signed the letter.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a government agency tasked with providing analysis and information to members of Congress on a nonpartisan basis.
In early March, Rep. Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, called on CBO to investigate the costs of the Iran war. The war began in late February with a massive bombing campaign by the United States and Israel.
The Department of Defense did not respond to requests for comment.
How much does the Pentagon say the war cost?
Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hearst told Congress during a May 12 budget hearing that the Iran war would cost taxpayers $29 billion, an increase of $4 billion from the $25 billion price tag Mr. Hearst presented to lawmakers two weeks ago. Hurst said this total does not include damage to U.S. military bases and assets from the Iranian attack, which the Pentagon has not yet fully counted.
Independent estimates of costs range from slightly higher to significantly higher than Hearst’s figure. Mark Cancian, a senior defense adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told USA TODAY earlier this month that the cost for the period covered by Hearst’s original estimate would likely be closer to $32 billion to $35 billion. An analysis by the American Enterprise Institute estimates that the cost from the start of the war to April 7, when the U.S. and Iran signed a temporary cease-fire agreement, could be up to $35 billion.
A person familiar with Congress’s estimates previously told USA TODAY that combat damage could add an additional $15 billion to the total cost. CBS and CNN reported last month, citing anonymous sources, that the total cost of the war was nearly $50 billion.
The military has requested a record $1.5 trillion budget for next year, and Pentagon officials said they would submit additional requests to Congress for additional funding for the Iran war. Pentagon officials have not said how much more they plan to request, but reports have put it between $80 billion and $100 billion.
The Iranian conflict has not returned to full-scale war since a ceasefire began seven weeks ago, but the US military launched so-called “self-defense” strikes into southern Iran on May 25, and Israel continues to strike Lebanon in what it claims are “strengthening” operations against Iran’s ally Hezbollah. Negotiations continue between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that Iran has blocked in retaliation for the war, causing a spike in global oil prices.
The United States and Israel launched their first joint attack on Iran on February 28th. The war killed 13 U.S. military personnel and at least 3,000 Iranians.
