Pentagon reveals new costs of war with Iran. Democrats sound the alarm: data is being underestimated
The estimate presented by Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst during hearings of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees increased from $25 billion. (over PLN 90 billion), which the administration informed legislators about last month, i are still significantly lower than external forecasts.
“Much of this increase is due to more accurate estimates of the costs of repairing and replacing equipment,” Hurst told senators, testifying alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.
According to Hurst, this cost is largely responsible for the $4 billion increase. (over PLN 14 billion), but the estimates also include operating costs and ammunition.
Latest calculations still do not include the cost of repairing US facilities in the Middle East, which were destroyed as a result of Iranian counterattacks.
“We don't know what our future actions will be,” Hurst said. — We do not know how these bases will be rebuilt, nor what percentage of the costs of this reconstruction will be covered by our allies and partners, he added.
Democrats are sounding the alarm. “Suspiciously low numbers”
However, Democratic senators, citing the latest estimates, argued that the administration is underestimating the costs of the war, with no end in sight, and is counting on Congress to foot the bill. Democratic senator Patty Murray on the Appropriations Committee called the latest numbers “suspiciously low.”
“You're spending hard-earned taxpayers' money on a war that many are vehemently opposed to, and forcing people to pay more for fuel, and yet you haven't even provided a true breakdown of the costs of this war yet,” she said.
Hegseth argued that these costs are nothing compared to the risks, created by Tehran. — What is the cost for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons? Hegseth Murray asked. “This president was willing to make a historic and bold decision to confront it. There are costs involved and we are aware of that, he said.
On Tuesday morning, during back-to-back hearings before the House and Senate defense finance committees, Hegseth, Caine and Hurst were giving the final public presentation of the Trump administration's record $1.5 trillion defense budget. (PLN 5 trillion 425 billion).
However, this bill does not take into account the expected request for additional funds to cover the costs of the war with Iran. The White House has not yet sent such a request to lawmakers, but reports since the beginning of the war indicate an amount of up to $200 billion. (PLN 723 billion) as part of a potential complementary package.
Democrats argued that the Pentagon provided too few details about the conflict that has been going on for 10 weeks.
“You're coming in and asking for another significant addition,” said Democratic Sen. Jack Reed. “But before we can, in my opinion, wisely allocate additional funds, we need to find out how the funds already allocated have been spent,” he added.
