WASHINGTON, July 22 — The cost of the United States’ war in Iran has risen to US$37.5 billion (RM153.29 billion) so far, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said today, as he faced sceptical lawmakers for the first time since heavy bombings resumed to seek urgent funding for the unpopular conflict.
With just six months before the midterm elections, in which President Donald Trump’s Republicans may face an uphill battle to retain their majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate, Democrats are riding high in public opinion polls as they attempt to link the unpopular Iran war with affordability concerns.
Hegseth told lawmakers at a hearing in Washington that the US$37.5 billion figure included certain aspects of the war as well as anticipated costs through September 30.
It was unclear how the Pentagon arrived at the figure. A source told Reuters in March that the Trump administration had estimated the first six days of the war had cost at least US$11.3 billion (RM46.20 billion).
Trump last month asked Congress for nearly US$90 billion (RM367.90 billion) in additional funding, most of it related to the Iran conflict, setting the stage for another clash with lawmakers frustrated by the war and facing the November midterm elections.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have complained since the US and Israel began bombing Iran on February 28 that Trump and his team had failed to keep them informed about the conflict and his plans.
“The president is threatening escalation and war crimes, and suggesting this could be another forever war,” Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said at the hearing.
Trump has repeatedly issued severe threats against Iran, including against civilian infrastructure, which critics say would amount to a war crime.
Trump’s Republicans hold such slim margins in the House and Senate that appropriations bills typically require Democratic support to pass.
“The reason why they are so upset with you and this administration is because the words you have used in the past don’t add up,” Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said.
“It’s either over, or it’s not over. It’s within two weeks, or it’s not two weeks. It’s either missiles, or it’s not missiles.”
Impact of war
Hegseth also told lawmakers that military training would need to be curtailed without an urgent funding boost.
The war has strained the Pentagon’s nearly US$1 trillion (RM4.09 trillion) budget and risks affecting funding for military personnel matters.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine acknowledged that concern during the hearing, saying that while the military would find ways to pay service members, the Pentagon could struggle with maintenance costs as well as investments in future capabilities.
Hegseth urged lawmakers not only to approve the supplemental request but also a US$1.5 trillion (RM6.13 trillion) budget request for 2027.
“Not funding this department at US$1.5 trillion, I believe, is the greatest threat that our nation faces,” Hegseth said.
A fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran collapsed earlier this month, with both sides carrying out daily strikes against each other.
The number of US troops killed in the conflict rose to 18 over the weekend, while about 430 service members have been injured.
The Pentagon said on Monday that 100 service members had been injured since July 7, but that 96 per cent had returned to duty.
Over the past week, Trump has threatened to expand the targets being struck in Iran to include energy facilities and bridges, deploy ground forces to seize Iran’s Kharg Island oil hub and bomb a deep-underground nuclear-linked site known as Pickaxe Mountain.
Yesterday, Trump said the US would take out the mountain facility “pretty soon”.
