NBC News: House Democrats demand Trump administration provide full accounting of Iran war costs
With the Iran war approaching the six-month mark, nearly 50 Democratic members of Congress are demanding the Trump administration make public the true cost of the conflict and its impact on the American people.
“What was billed as a two-week operation is now a full-scale war that has lasted for over 150 days, cost over $37 billion, and claimed the lives of 18 servicemembers,” the House Democrats wrote in a letter to President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “At the same time, prices across the country have gone up significantly, placing the burden of this conflict on American families.”
The letter was spearheaded by Rep. Derek Tran, D-Calif., Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., and Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., all military veterans and co-chairs of the House Democrats’ national security task force.
Trump announced the joint U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran on Feb. 28. Since then, Pentagon officials have provided two price tags for the war.
On April 29, Jay Hurst, who was performing the duties of the Pentagon comptroller, said the first two months of the war had cost $25 billion. In July, Defense Secretary Hegseth said the cost had grown to $37.5 billion, but that did not factor in damage to bases in the region and other expected costs.
Despite these estimates, the administration is asking for $67 billion to cover some of the military costs of Operation Epic Fury, including replacing critical munitions that have been used during the war.
NBC News reported last month that the Defense Department’s internal overall cost for the war so far is $80 billion to $100 billion, including the cost of repairing damaged U.S. military bases, replacing destroyed aircraft and fully replenishing American weaponry, according to three U.S. officials.
“Nearly six months ago, Donald Trump launched us into yet another war with no strategy and no endgame,” Crow said in a statement. “As Trump, his family, and his friends in the oil industry use this conflict to pad their pockets, the cost on American taxpayers has grown by the day. Gas, groceries, and everyday goods have all gotten more expensive, with no end in sight.”
The Democrats’ letter also criticizes Trump’s response to questions about the war’s economic impact on Americans.
In May, the president was asked whether Americans’ financial situation was motivating him to make a deal with Iran. “Not even a little bit,” he replied.
“This is appalling and unacceptable,” the letter states.
In addition to asking for the Pentagon price tag for the war, the letter demands specifics on the economic impact on Americans, including the effects on inflation, employment and wages.
“Americans are being asked to write a blank check for a war they never asked for — a war that has jacked up costs on everyday goods and made us less safe,” Goodlander said in a statement. “President Trump and Secretary Hegseth owe the American people a full accounting: where every taxpayer dollar has gone, how this war is affecting hardworking families, and when it will end.”
The letter, which sets a deadline of Sept. 11 for the administration to provide a detailed war accounting, ends by telling Trump and Hegseth: “Americans did not ask for this war, and they cannot afford it. They do not have the luxury of ignoring their financial situation, and you shouldn’t either.”