Senators grill Hegseth over Iran war costs and strategy

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators the war with Iran had cost $37.5 billion so far, as lawmakers pressed him and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine on strategy, authorization, ceasefire issues and Pentagon funding. The hearing put a hard number on a war bill that has moved sharply in only weeks, after earlier Pentagon estimates put the cost at at least $25 billion and then $29 billion nine weeks into the conflict. U.S. officials later judged the true cost closer to $50 billion, leaving Congress to weigh not just the pace of the spending but the reliability of the administration’s accounting.

The scale of the fight has already put it in the same budget conversation as the wars that defined the post-9/11 era. The Afghanistan war cost an estimated $2.261 trillion, while the Iraq and Syria war reached $2.89 trillion, according to Costs of War estimates. Across the broader post-9/11 wars, the United States has spent and requested about $5.8 trillion, a reminder that an initial conflict bill can harden into a long-running federal obligation.

The funding fight is still moving on Capitol Hill. The administration has sought $67 billion in additional defense money tied to the Iran conflict, and some coverage has described a broader $87.6 billion supplemental request. That package has included $21 billion to replace munitions used in the war effort. The central oversight question for senators is what metrics, timeline and exit conditions the Pentagon can put on the conflict before Congress signs off on more money.

The human toll added to the scrutiny. A CBS News livestream description said the U.S. military death toll in the war had risen to at least 17, including three service members killed over the weekend and two American soldiers killed in Jordan. Public opinion was also turning skeptical, with a CBS News poll finding most Americans believed the Iran war was not worth its price. Another CBS report said the conflict had pushed oil prices to a four-year high, a sign that the war’s financial reach was extending well beyond the Pentagon’s books.